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PRESS RELEASE
Gomidas Institute, London
Contact: Roland Mnatsakanyan
22 Feb. 2013
British Parliamentary Blue Book on Armenian Genocide Sent to the Turkish
Parliament for a Second Time
Nora Vosbigian
London 22 Feb. 2013. The British Parliamentary Blue Book, which consists
of eyewitness accounts of the Armenian Genocide, has been sent to the
Turkish Parliament for a second time. Copies were first sent to Turkish
deputies in 2009, but distribution was prevented in Ankara.
The Committee Against Racism, part of the Human Rights Association of
Turkey, held a news conference in Istanbul on 20 February 2013, during
which committee member Ragip Zarakolu and Ara Sarafian, founding
director of the Gomidas Institute (London), spoke about the Blue Book.
Meeting participants subsequently went to Galatasaray Post Office and
formally sent copies of the book to the Speaker of the Turkish
Parliament and members of the Parliament's Human Rights Committee.
In 1916 the British Parliament commissioned Viscount James Bryce and
Arnold Toynbee to prepare a report on the treatment of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire during 1915-1916. The work was published under the
British Parliamentary Blue Book series.
Sarafian: The Blue Book is at the centre of official Turkish denials
In his presentation, Sarafian talked about the Blue Book, which was
discussed in Turkey in the 1980s, when it was made into the centrepiece
of a new wave of official Turkish denialist historiography. Authors like
Kamuran Gurun, Sinasi Orel, Mim Kemal Oke, Salahi Sonyel, along with
their supporters such as Justin McCarthy, Heath Lowry and Andrew Mango
manipulated aspects of the Blue Book and combined their vitriol in using
it to attack Armenians and the Armenian Genocide thesis.
The Blue Book was targeted once more by the TBMM (Turkish Parliament) in
2005, when Turkish Parliamentarians embarked on another offensive, this
time blaming the British Parliament for the Armenian Genocide thesis.
The TBMM claimed that the eyewitness accounts in the Blue Book were
fabricated or second rate. In fact Sarafian's research had
already found such claims to be baseless. His initial findings had been
presented at an academic conference and published in the 1990s, and in
2000 the Gomidas Institute published the entire Blue Book in a critical
edition, replete with full citations from British and American archives.
When the Turkish Parliament embarked on its disinformation campaign in
2005, the veracity of the Blue Book was actually a matter of record, and
the Turkish Parliamentarians engaged in a shameless and orchestrated act
of denial against a creditable report based on genuine records.
The 2005 initiative of the TBMM was taken by CHP's deputy Sukru Elekdag,
who led virtually all of the members of the Turkish Grand National
Assembly to sign a letter addressed to the British Parliament, arguing
that the British book was a mere fabrication and that, incredibly, the
British Parliament should apologise and formally withdraw it. Quite
rightly, the British took no such action. Instead, 33 British MPs
responded to the Turkish accusations, and invited the latter (and their
advisors) to a face to face meeting to discuss their differences of
opinion. The Turkish Parliamentarians did not respond and a second
invitation was sent. This second invitation was also ignored.
Sarafian: Silence is part of the denial
Although the Turkish translation of the Blue Book (uncensored edition)
was released at the Turkish Human Rights Association in Ankara in 2009
in the presence of Ara Sarafian and Lord Avebury, Turkish MPs ignored
their invitations to attend. All copies of the translation that were
sent to the TBMM were not accepted for delivery.
Sarafian said that this behaviour was indicative of the official denial
of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey. "The silence of the TBMM is part of
the denial. My reason for being here is to expose this denial.'
Zarakolu: Parliament is trying to protect itself from "corrosive"
publications
Zarakolu said that the Speaker of the TBMM in 2009 was Koksal Toptan,
and it was he who stopped the books from reaching the Turkish MPs by
instructing the cargo company, which had prior clearance to make its
delivery of books, to turn back: "This shows us the immense power of the
control mechanism and the efforts to keep the Parliament away from
`corrosive' publications. It reflects serious problems
even in the Turkish Parliament when it comes to academic freedom,
communication and freedom of information. The Blue Book is important in
terms of human rights history in Turkey. Very, very few Turkish MPs had
seen this book when they signed the TBMM letter to London. Nor did they
see it afterwards.'
Besikci: As long as the denial continues, archives are not reliable
In a long written statement from the veteran sociologist and human
rights' activist Ismail Besikci, the meeting was told that
Turkish archives will not be reliable as long as the denial policy
continues : "Under these circumstances, the eyewitness accounts of those
who lived through these events are more valuable [than the materials
presented in the Turkish state archives]. In this sense, the statements
in the Blue Book are invaluable. I wish that Turkey in 80 years time
will be a more democratic country and there would be no place for
denialist politics in that democratic Turkey."
From: A. Papazian
Gomidas Institute, London
Contact: Roland Mnatsakanyan
22 Feb. 2013
British Parliamentary Blue Book on Armenian Genocide Sent to the Turkish
Parliament for a Second Time
Nora Vosbigian
London 22 Feb. 2013. The British Parliamentary Blue Book, which consists
of eyewitness accounts of the Armenian Genocide, has been sent to the
Turkish Parliament for a second time. Copies were first sent to Turkish
deputies in 2009, but distribution was prevented in Ankara.
The Committee Against Racism, part of the Human Rights Association of
Turkey, held a news conference in Istanbul on 20 February 2013, during
which committee member Ragip Zarakolu and Ara Sarafian, founding
director of the Gomidas Institute (London), spoke about the Blue Book.
Meeting participants subsequently went to Galatasaray Post Office and
formally sent copies of the book to the Speaker of the Turkish
Parliament and members of the Parliament's Human Rights Committee.
In 1916 the British Parliament commissioned Viscount James Bryce and
Arnold Toynbee to prepare a report on the treatment of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire during 1915-1916. The work was published under the
British Parliamentary Blue Book series.
Sarafian: The Blue Book is at the centre of official Turkish denials
In his presentation, Sarafian talked about the Blue Book, which was
discussed in Turkey in the 1980s, when it was made into the centrepiece
of a new wave of official Turkish denialist historiography. Authors like
Kamuran Gurun, Sinasi Orel, Mim Kemal Oke, Salahi Sonyel, along with
their supporters such as Justin McCarthy, Heath Lowry and Andrew Mango
manipulated aspects of the Blue Book and combined their vitriol in using
it to attack Armenians and the Armenian Genocide thesis.
The Blue Book was targeted once more by the TBMM (Turkish Parliament) in
2005, when Turkish Parliamentarians embarked on another offensive, this
time blaming the British Parliament for the Armenian Genocide thesis.
The TBMM claimed that the eyewitness accounts in the Blue Book were
fabricated or second rate. In fact Sarafian's research had
already found such claims to be baseless. His initial findings had been
presented at an academic conference and published in the 1990s, and in
2000 the Gomidas Institute published the entire Blue Book in a critical
edition, replete with full citations from British and American archives.
When the Turkish Parliament embarked on its disinformation campaign in
2005, the veracity of the Blue Book was actually a matter of record, and
the Turkish Parliamentarians engaged in a shameless and orchestrated act
of denial against a creditable report based on genuine records.
The 2005 initiative of the TBMM was taken by CHP's deputy Sukru Elekdag,
who led virtually all of the members of the Turkish Grand National
Assembly to sign a letter addressed to the British Parliament, arguing
that the British book was a mere fabrication and that, incredibly, the
British Parliament should apologise and formally withdraw it. Quite
rightly, the British took no such action. Instead, 33 British MPs
responded to the Turkish accusations, and invited the latter (and their
advisors) to a face to face meeting to discuss their differences of
opinion. The Turkish Parliamentarians did not respond and a second
invitation was sent. This second invitation was also ignored.
Sarafian: Silence is part of the denial
Although the Turkish translation of the Blue Book (uncensored edition)
was released at the Turkish Human Rights Association in Ankara in 2009
in the presence of Ara Sarafian and Lord Avebury, Turkish MPs ignored
their invitations to attend. All copies of the translation that were
sent to the TBMM were not accepted for delivery.
Sarafian said that this behaviour was indicative of the official denial
of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey. "The silence of the TBMM is part of
the denial. My reason for being here is to expose this denial.'
Zarakolu: Parliament is trying to protect itself from "corrosive"
publications
Zarakolu said that the Speaker of the TBMM in 2009 was Koksal Toptan,
and it was he who stopped the books from reaching the Turkish MPs by
instructing the cargo company, which had prior clearance to make its
delivery of books, to turn back: "This shows us the immense power of the
control mechanism and the efforts to keep the Parliament away from
`corrosive' publications. It reflects serious problems
even in the Turkish Parliament when it comes to academic freedom,
communication and freedom of information. The Blue Book is important in
terms of human rights history in Turkey. Very, very few Turkish MPs had
seen this book when they signed the TBMM letter to London. Nor did they
see it afterwards.'
Besikci: As long as the denial continues, archives are not reliable
In a long written statement from the veteran sociologist and human
rights' activist Ismail Besikci, the meeting was told that
Turkish archives will not be reliable as long as the denial policy
continues : "Under these circumstances, the eyewitness accounts of those
who lived through these events are more valuable [than the materials
presented in the Turkish state archives]. In this sense, the statements
in the Blue Book are invaluable. I wish that Turkey in 80 years time
will be a more democratic country and there would be no place for
denialist politics in that democratic Turkey."
From: A. Papazian