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  • Zoryan Announces New Book That Sets Post-Wwi Ottoman Trials In Their

    ZORYAN ANNOUNCES NEW BOOK THAT SETS POST-WWI OTTOMAN TRIALS IN THEIR HISTORICAL AND LEGAL CONTEXT

    AZG DAILY
    30-11-2011

    Armenian Genocide Update: 2011-11-30 00:24:52 (GMT +04:00)

    In the aftermath of its disastrous defeat in WWI, Ottoman Turkey
    had to face the wartime crime of the destruction of its Armenian
    population. An inquiry commissioned by the Ottoman government in 1919
    presented enough preliminary evidence to organize a series of trials
    involving the perpetrators of these crimes. It is the record of these
    trials and the unparalleled details they provide on the planning and
    implementation of these heinous crimes that has brought together the
    two most renowned scholars of the Armenian Genocide, Professors Vahakn
    Dadrian and Taner Akcam, in their first joint publication. It is with
    great pride that the Zoryan Institute announces that after years of
    research and analysis, the authors have compiled for the first time
    in English the complete documentation of the trial proceedings and
    have set these findings in their historical and legal context.

    The book is entitled Judgment at Istanbul: The Armenian Genocide

    Trials and is published by Berghahn Books of New York and Oxford.

    In describing the book, Prof. Dadrian commented, "This is a most
    important work, for two reasons. First, it is based on authentic
    Turkish documentation, which the Ottoman government was forced to
    release during the trials. Second, unlike most books on the Armenian
    Genocide, which are historical interpretations, this study, for the
    first time is based also on the testimony of high-ranking Ottoman
    officials, given under oath, on the magnitude of the crimes against
    the Armenians, and in this sense, serves as a legal case study of
    the Armenian Genocide."

    During his more than fifty years of research on the subject, Dadrian
    discovered that the Takvim-i Vekâyi, the official Ottoman government~Rs
    gazette, was not the only major source of information on these military
    tribunals. In fact, Renaissance, a French language Armenian newspaper
    in Constantinople at the time, reported summaries of many of the
    trial proceedings taken from the reports of the Ottoman language
    newspapers of the day, which were otherwise not accounted for in
    official government records. Prof. Akçam, the book~Rs co-author, noted
    that "While the official government record lists only twelve trials,
    newspapers provide us details on sixty-three. For the first time,
    information from the Ottoman newspapers of the era has been utilized to
    reconstruct the trials. A great deal of effort was required to track
    down all issues possible of fourteen different Ottoman newspapers,
    which meant visiting many libraries in different cities.

    Often, the articles we were looking for had been cut out of the paper
    in one location, but we were able to find a copy in another location."

    The Zoryan Institute sponsored the collection of these newspapers,
    their translation and transliteration, as part of the long-term
    project known as "Creating a Common Body of Knowledge," and retains
    copies in its archives.

    According to the Institute~Rs President, K.M Greg Sarkissian, "The
    objective is to provide knowledge that will be shared by Turkish
    and Armenian civil societies and western scholarship. The aim is to
    locate, collect, analyze, transliterate, translate, edit and publish
    authoritative, universally recognized original archival documents
    on the history of the events surrounding 1915, in both Turkish and
    English.

    Elaborating on the importance not only of the primary source material
    in this book, but also the analysis provided by the book~Rs authors,"
    he continued, "the more such documents are made available to Turkish
    society, the more it will be empowered with knowledge to question
    narratives imposed by the state.

    Restoring accurate historical memory will benefit not only Turkish, but
    also Armenian society. Both will be emancipated from the straightjacket
    of the past. Such a Common Body of Knowledge will hopefully lead to an
    understanding of each other, act as a catalyst for dialogue, and aid in
    the normalization of relations between the two societies. Judgment at
    Istanbul is the most recent example of the Zoryan Institute~Rs strong
    belief in the importance of a Common Body of Knowledge as a key factor
    in helping the future of any relationship between Turkey and Armenia."

    The trials described in Judgment at Istanbul had a far-reaching
    bearing in the international community.

    As the first national tribunal to prosecute cases of mass atrocity, the
    principles of "crimes against humanity" which were introduced then had
    their echo subsequently in the Nuremberg Charter, the Tokyo Charter,
    and the UN Genocide Convention. This book is an essential source for
    historians, legal scholars, political scientists, sociologists, policy
    makers, and those interested in Genocide Studies, Turkish Studies,
    and Armenian Studies. It also holds great current relevance, with
    recent interest internationally regarding the Armenian Genocide and
    its denial.

    Vahakn N. Dadrian and Taner Akçam, Judgment at Istanbul: The Armenian
    Genocide Trials. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2011. 363p. ISBN
    978-0-85745-251-1 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-85745-286-3 (ebook). $110.00
    ($75.00 to Zoryan Friends).

    To order a copy for yourself, as a gift, or to help sponsor a book to
    be placed in university libraries, please contact the Zoryan office,
    416-250-9807, [email protected].



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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