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Akcam: Archive Purging an Important Administrative Culture in Turkey

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  • Akcam: Archive Purging an Important Administrative Culture in Turkey

    TANER AKCHAM: "PURGE OF ARCHIVES IS QUITE IMPORTANT ADMINISTRATIVE
    CULTURE" IN TURKEY"

    ISTANBUL, December 29 (Noyan Tapan): The destruction of documents is
    "an important part of our culture," historian Taner Akcham, a
    representative of the progressive Turkish intelligentsia, writes in
    his large article concerning the purge of the Turkish archives. The
    article was published by the "Radical" newspaper in its Sunday
    appendix. In his article Akcham, at first, mentions the "Sabah"
    newspaper's publication from November 7 1918, where it is said that
    the government looked for the documents testifying about the massacre
    against the Armenians but couldn't find them. The newspaper's
    indicated article writes "Taleat Pasha and his company, probably,
    before leaving authority, ordered to destruct all the documents
    witnessing about their giving directions on the massacre. Akcham
    emphasizes that it was right, as the indictment against "the Young
    Turks", which was heard in the Istanbul Court Martial of the State of
    Siege in May 1919, writes that the documents concerning the
    administrative center of the "Ittihat" party and so-called Teshkilat
    Mahsuse organization were "stolen". In this connection the Prosecutor
    said that Aziz Bei, the Chief of Security of the region, took away
    with himself a lot of documents before Taleat Pasha's resignation and
    didn't return them. Then Taner Akcham cites numerous examples
    concerning the stealing and destruction of the documents and notices
    that during the "Ittihat's" power the following was written under all
    the instructions and documents concerning massacres: "Read and
    destruct after reading." Akcham mentions the self-defense of different
    officials in the courts, they reported that "they destructed the
    documents as they received such an order." In particular, Akcham sets
    as an example the 1919 action against Osman Nuri Effendi, the Deputy
    Director of the Chatalcha post office, who said: "I burned down all
    the documents in accordance with the received order. My chiefs ordered
    me to burn down the documents concerning the period of their power
    from such-and-such to such-and-such date and I did it.." The author of
    the article also sets other examples. According to the "Marmara" daily
    newspaper of Istanbul, at the end of the article the Turk historian
    notices: "As seen the destruction of documents is quite an important
    "administrative culture". For that reason some persons talk profusely
    with the quiet of those who know that the documents have already been
    destructed, that "nothing had happened with the Armenians, and all the
    documents are in their places." Perhaps, people of my generation will
    find some documents about their greats and promulgate them, arguing
    that beside those considering the destruction of documents as success,
    there are also such people that want to discover truth".

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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