Ragip Zarakolu, a publisher in Istanbul and a renowned
champion of human rights, has collaborated with the Zoryan Institute to lay one
more building block on the foundation of a common body of knowledge for Turks
and Armenians. Zarakolu, despite being in jail in Turkey since October 2011
allegedly in connection with the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) trials, has
not stopped his efforts to bring out the historical truth about the “events of
1915” and thereafter.
On Jan. 12, 2012, Belge Yayinlari, Zarakolu’s publishing
house, released Alman Belgeleri Ermeni Soykimi 1915-16: Alman Disisleri
Bakanligi Siaysi Arsiv Belgeleri, the Turkish edition of The Armenian Genocide
1915-16: Documents from the Political Archives of the German Foreign Office,
compiled and edited by Wolfgang Gust and published originally in Germany. The
book was the product of 10 years of devoted research, editing, and translating
overseen by Wolfgang and Sigrid Gust. It is an extensive selection of 218
telegrams, letters, and reports from German consular officials in the Ottoman
Empire to the Foreign Office in Berlin describing the unfolding genocide of the
Armenians.
In December 1915, as a response to the criticism and
outrage of German officials in the field over the inhuman treatment of the
Armenians, German Chancellor and Foreign Minister Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg
wrote: “The proposed public reprimand of an ally in the course of a war would
be an act which is unprecedented in history. Our only aim is to keep Turkey on
our side until the end of the war, no matter whether as a result Armenians do
perish or not.”
Imperial Germany was the political and military ally of
the Ottoman Empire. The candor in these documents was possible because they
were marked “confidential,” “very confidential,” or “secret” and “very secret,”
and intended only for in-house use and never for public consumption. During
World War I, only German diplomats and military officials were allowed to enter
areas where the genocide was taking place and were able to send uncensored
reports out of the country. Apart from the Americans, who remained neutral in
the war until April 6, 1917, German diplomats and their informants from the
charitable missions or from among the employees of the Baghdad Railway were the
most important non-Armenian eyewitnesses of the genocide.
It is ironic to read the report of Feb. 24, 1913, from
the ambassador in Constantinople to the Imperial Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg:
“Here in Germany, we have become accustomed to viewing the periodically
repeated Armenian massacres as being merely a natural reaction to the Armenian
businessmen’s system of draining others dry. The Armenians were called the Jews
of the Orient, and people forgot that in Anatolia there is also a strong tribe
of Armenian farmers which has all the good characteristics of a healthy rural
population and whose entire wrongdoing consists of doggedly defending its
religion, its language, and its property against the foreign peoples
surrounding it.”
This new book is part of the long-term project, “Creating
a Common Body of Knowledge.” There is a need in Turkey at this time for
authoritative information on its suppressed history. The Zoryan Institute seeks
to help provide information to fill this need through systematic scholarly
research, the publication of incontestable information on the Armenian Genocide
in Turkish and other languages, and its wide distribution in Turkey and other
countries. Other documentary and analytical publications commissioned by the
Zoryan Institute as part of the “Common Body of Knowledge” include Hitler and
the Armenian Genocide (Belge Publishers) and Judgment at Istanbul (Bilgi University
Press).
The translation into Turkish and publication of the
German documents took seven years. Dealing with the diplomatic German language
and Sütterlin script of the World War I era was particularly difficult, and the
text of the forthcoming English language edition was helpful in clarifying many
passages.
Ragip Zarakolu has been persecuted by the Turkish state
for many years for his public positions on freedom of speech, human rights, and
the rights of Turkey’s minorities. Outside of Turkey, he has given lectures and
participated in conferences—including in April 2010 in São Paulo, Brazil, at a
conference co-organized by Zoryan—and is highly respected by academic and human
rights organizations. He received the NOVIB/PEN Free Expression Award in 2003
and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by members of the Swedish
Parliament in February 2012. As a result of his persecution and many court
indictments, he has been officially adopted by PEN.
Commenting on the philosophy behind the “Common Body of
Knowledge” project, K.M. Greg Sarkissian, the president of the Zoryan
Institute, said, “History is a stumbling block for peace and stability in the
region. True peace can be achieved only if the nations in the region can talk
to each other openly about their past. Therefore, we see education through the
‘Common Body of Knowledge’ as one of the best ways to alleviate the tension
between Turks and Armenians, because it provides a basis of shared knowledge
that can counter generations of hostility and lead to mutual understanding and
dialogue.”
The Zoryan Institute is the parent organization of the
International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, which runs an
annual university program on the subject in partnership with the University of
Toronto, and is co-publisher of Genocide Studies and Prevention: An
International Journal in partnership with the International Association of
Genocide Scholars and the University of Toronto Press. It is the first
non-profit, international center devoted to the research and documentation of
contemporary issues with a focus on genocide, diaspora, and Armenia.
For more information, contact the Zoryan Institute by
e-mailing zoryan@zoryaninstitute.org or calling (416) 250-9807.
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