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TURKISH INTELLECTUALS WHO HAVE RECOGNIZED THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: MEHMET POLATEL
By MassisPost
Updated: March 27, 2015
By Hambersom Aghbasian
Mehmet Polatel is a Turkish historian focusing on the late Ottoman
history and early Turkish republic. His research interests are in
the fields of power, state formation, social change, nationalism and
genocide. He has conducted research on the fate of Armenian property
in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey. Currently he is
a PhD candidate at Bogazici University and a research assistant at
the History Department of Koc University in Istanbul. He is also a
researcher at the International Hrant Dink Foundation.(1)
"Confiscation and Destruction: The Young Turk Seizure of Armenian
Property" by Ugur Ungor and Mehmet Polatel is the first major study of
the mass sequestration of Armenian property by the Young Turk regime
during the 1915 Armenian genocide. It details the emergence of Turkish
economic nationalism, offers insight into the economic ramifications of
the genocidal process, and describes how the plunder was organized on
the ground. The interrelated nature of property confiscation initiated
by the Young Turk regime and its cooperating local elites offers new
insights into the functions and beneficiaries of state-sanctioned
robbery. Drawing on secret files and unexamined records, the authors
demonstrate that while Armenians suffered systematic plunder and
destruction, ordinary Turks were assigned a range of property for
their progress.(2)
The Argentine capital of Buenos Aires was host to the International
Congress on the Armenian Genocide, held from April 9 to 11, 2014. The
event was organized by the National University of Tres de Febrero
(UNTREF), Argentina's Center for Genocide Studies, and the Memory
of the Armenian Genocide Foundation, with the collaboration of the
Armenian National Committee of South America (CNA) and the Luisa
Hairabedian Foundation (FLH) as well as the sponsorship of the
Armenian Embassy in Argentina and the Archbishop of the Armenian
Apostolic Church of Argentina. The opening day featured important
speakers like Chancellor of UNTREF Anibal Jozami, Director of the
National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism Pedro
Mouratian, Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice Eugenio Zaffaroni,
President of the General Audit Office Leandro Despouy, and Director of
the Center for Genocide Studies Daniel Feierstein, along with Nelida
Bulgourdjian, coordinator of the Congress. Dr. Richard Hovannisian,
Gabriel Sivinian, from the University of Buenos Aires, Historian
Heitor Loureiro, and many others participated in the Congress. Mehmet
Polatel, from Bogazici University in Turkey, presented a detailed
report on property confiscated by the Turkish state and individuals,
that was appropriated from the victims of the Armenian Genocide.(3)
"A History of Destruction: The Fate of Armenian Church Properties
in Adana" is Mehmet Polatel's article in which he examines the fate
of religious buildings in Adana after the Armenian Genocide of 1915,
in a process of destruction that aimed to erase the proof of Armenian
existence in the region. According to him "The motivation behind the
genocidal processes is always related to the destruction of a certain
group of people. However, the idea of the community is also related
to shared values, everyday routines, culture, literature, and religion.
Thus, genocidal processes not only target certain groups of people,
but also the symbols, buildings, and monuments that belong to them."
He added "Following the deportation decision, the Committee of
Union and Progress (CUP) carefully controlled the state of Armenian
properties then allocated them to immigrants from the Balkans and
Caucasus. The CUP aimed to de-Armenize the Adana province, which
included the plain of Adana, Mersin, Sis, and Tarsus, and fill them
with Muslim immigrants from the Balkans and Caucasus. Armenians were to
be "deported without exception" (bilâ-istisna teb'id), and according
to Talat Pasha's own notebook, 699 buildings were confiscated in
Adana province."(4)
In her article entitled " What do people mean in Turkey by Armenian
Genocide recognition?", Burcin Gercek wrote on 3 November, 2014 in
"REPAIR", "In spite of many initiatives to develop awareness of the
Turkish society regarding what happened in 1915 and appeals to ask
for official forgiveness, a deeper reflection needs to be carried
out in Turkey about how to render justice a hundred years after the
genocide." she continues then about "Facing 1915, the growing awareness
of Turkish civil society" then about "Requesting State recognition" and
finally about "Asking for justice and reparations" where she mentions
that "Taner Akcam, Umit Kurt, Mehmet Polatel, Sait Cetinoglu and
Nevzat Onaran are some of the few researchers working on the subject
of properties belonging to Armenians which were confiscated during
and after the genocide. As for the government, its sole proposal for
"reparations" has so far consisted in granting a right of return to the
country and citizenship to the descendants of the genocide victims.(5)
According to AUA Newsroom, "On February 4, 2015, the American
University of Armenia (AUA) hosted a talk by Turkish Historian
Mehmet Polatel on 'Armenian Property Confiscation During and After
the Genocide.' The lecture was part of AUA's 1915 Centennial series.
Polatel's presentation covered the seizure of Armenian property in
three main ways: transfer of ownership by the Ottoman State, extortion
and abuses by civil servants and military personnel, and the seizure
and looting of Armenian properties during the massacres. Throughout
the presentation, Polatel utilized historical documents and texts,
including the notebooks of Talaat Pasha and other archival materials,
to analyze the process and mechanisms underpinning the seizure of
Armenian churches, monasteries, cemeteries, lands, and other goods
during the genocide." Polatel also stated that " The seizure of
properties was not just a transfer of ownership; it was a crucial
part of the genocide policy for the destruction of Armenians and
Armenianness."(6)
----------------
-1- http://armenianweekly.com/author/mehmet-polatel/ 2-
http://www.amazon.com/Confiscation-Destruction-Seizure-Armenian-Property/dp/162356901
3-
http://asbarez.com/121947/int.-congress-on-armenian-genocide-held-in-buenos-aires/
4-
http://hyetert.blogspot.com/2011/10/history-of-destruction-fate-of-armenian.html
5-
http://repairfuture.net/index.php/en/armenian-genocide-recognition-and-reparations-standpoint-
6-
http://newsroom.aua.am/2015/02/05/mehmet-polatel-turkish-historian-discusses-property-confiscation-during-and-after-the-armenian-genocide/
From: A. Papazian
By MassisPost
Updated: March 27, 2015
By Hambersom Aghbasian
Mehmet Polatel is a Turkish historian focusing on the late Ottoman
history and early Turkish republic. His research interests are in
the fields of power, state formation, social change, nationalism and
genocide. He has conducted research on the fate of Armenian property
in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey. Currently he is
a PhD candidate at Bogazici University and a research assistant at
the History Department of Koc University in Istanbul. He is also a
researcher at the International Hrant Dink Foundation.(1)
"Confiscation and Destruction: The Young Turk Seizure of Armenian
Property" by Ugur Ungor and Mehmet Polatel is the first major study of
the mass sequestration of Armenian property by the Young Turk regime
during the 1915 Armenian genocide. It details the emergence of Turkish
economic nationalism, offers insight into the economic ramifications of
the genocidal process, and describes how the plunder was organized on
the ground. The interrelated nature of property confiscation initiated
by the Young Turk regime and its cooperating local elites offers new
insights into the functions and beneficiaries of state-sanctioned
robbery. Drawing on secret files and unexamined records, the authors
demonstrate that while Armenians suffered systematic plunder and
destruction, ordinary Turks were assigned a range of property for
their progress.(2)
The Argentine capital of Buenos Aires was host to the International
Congress on the Armenian Genocide, held from April 9 to 11, 2014. The
event was organized by the National University of Tres de Febrero
(UNTREF), Argentina's Center for Genocide Studies, and the Memory
of the Armenian Genocide Foundation, with the collaboration of the
Armenian National Committee of South America (CNA) and the Luisa
Hairabedian Foundation (FLH) as well as the sponsorship of the
Armenian Embassy in Argentina and the Archbishop of the Armenian
Apostolic Church of Argentina. The opening day featured important
speakers like Chancellor of UNTREF Anibal Jozami, Director of the
National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism Pedro
Mouratian, Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice Eugenio Zaffaroni,
President of the General Audit Office Leandro Despouy, and Director of
the Center for Genocide Studies Daniel Feierstein, along with Nelida
Bulgourdjian, coordinator of the Congress. Dr. Richard Hovannisian,
Gabriel Sivinian, from the University of Buenos Aires, Historian
Heitor Loureiro, and many others participated in the Congress. Mehmet
Polatel, from Bogazici University in Turkey, presented a detailed
report on property confiscated by the Turkish state and individuals,
that was appropriated from the victims of the Armenian Genocide.(3)
"A History of Destruction: The Fate of Armenian Church Properties
in Adana" is Mehmet Polatel's article in which he examines the fate
of religious buildings in Adana after the Armenian Genocide of 1915,
in a process of destruction that aimed to erase the proof of Armenian
existence in the region. According to him "The motivation behind the
genocidal processes is always related to the destruction of a certain
group of people. However, the idea of the community is also related
to shared values, everyday routines, culture, literature, and religion.
Thus, genocidal processes not only target certain groups of people,
but also the symbols, buildings, and monuments that belong to them."
He added "Following the deportation decision, the Committee of
Union and Progress (CUP) carefully controlled the state of Armenian
properties then allocated them to immigrants from the Balkans and
Caucasus. The CUP aimed to de-Armenize the Adana province, which
included the plain of Adana, Mersin, Sis, and Tarsus, and fill them
with Muslim immigrants from the Balkans and Caucasus. Armenians were to
be "deported without exception" (bilâ-istisna teb'id), and according
to Talat Pasha's own notebook, 699 buildings were confiscated in
Adana province."(4)
In her article entitled " What do people mean in Turkey by Armenian
Genocide recognition?", Burcin Gercek wrote on 3 November, 2014 in
"REPAIR", "In spite of many initiatives to develop awareness of the
Turkish society regarding what happened in 1915 and appeals to ask
for official forgiveness, a deeper reflection needs to be carried
out in Turkey about how to render justice a hundred years after the
genocide." she continues then about "Facing 1915, the growing awareness
of Turkish civil society" then about "Requesting State recognition" and
finally about "Asking for justice and reparations" where she mentions
that "Taner Akcam, Umit Kurt, Mehmet Polatel, Sait Cetinoglu and
Nevzat Onaran are some of the few researchers working on the subject
of properties belonging to Armenians which were confiscated during
and after the genocide. As for the government, its sole proposal for
"reparations" has so far consisted in granting a right of return to the
country and citizenship to the descendants of the genocide victims.(5)
According to AUA Newsroom, "On February 4, 2015, the American
University of Armenia (AUA) hosted a talk by Turkish Historian
Mehmet Polatel on 'Armenian Property Confiscation During and After
the Genocide.' The lecture was part of AUA's 1915 Centennial series.
Polatel's presentation covered the seizure of Armenian property in
three main ways: transfer of ownership by the Ottoman State, extortion
and abuses by civil servants and military personnel, and the seizure
and looting of Armenian properties during the massacres. Throughout
the presentation, Polatel utilized historical documents and texts,
including the notebooks of Talaat Pasha and other archival materials,
to analyze the process and mechanisms underpinning the seizure of
Armenian churches, monasteries, cemeteries, lands, and other goods
during the genocide." Polatel also stated that " The seizure of
properties was not just a transfer of ownership; it was a crucial
part of the genocide policy for the destruction of Armenians and
Armenianness."(6)
----------------
-1- http://armenianweekly.com/author/mehmet-polatel/ 2-
http://www.amazon.com/Confiscation-Destruction-Seizure-Armenian-Property/dp/162356901
3-
http://asbarez.com/121947/int.-congress-on-armenian-genocide-held-in-buenos-aires/
4-
http://hyetert.blogspot.com/2011/10/history-of-destruction-fate-of-armenian.html
5-
http://repairfuture.net/index.php/en/armenian-genocide-recognition-and-reparations-standpoint-
6-
http://newsroom.aua.am/2015/02/05/mehmet-polatel-turkish-historian-discusses-property-confiscation-during-and-after-the-armenian-genocide/
From: A. Papazian