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It attempts to provide them with a reasonable (and more advantageous) route to acceptance and respect than does simply throwing money at American professors and congressmen to spout their propaganda. Who wouldn't. "TODAY. (I'm sure their grandparents came home and boasted of their cruelty. Read up).) Unfortunately for the Turkish government, this excuse does not apply to them, most of them being at first the same cast of characters (with a change of name) as the perpetrators of the genocide, and, later, their descendants. ((Hey, Turks.
Psst. He's actually provided you with the first and only plausible excuse for claiming ignorance of the facts. This is an extremely well-researched book by a Turkish scholar who is obviously trying his best to make his countrymen see that denying the obvious will not advance their cause. Also worth noting: the grandchildren of Kurds living in the formerly Armenian towns of the Anatolian plateau are open with their admission of their grandfathers' complicity in the genocide: apparently these grandfathers complained to their families that they were promised a gold coin for each Armenian head, but the Turkish government never paid up. Of COURSE they're going to deny such barbarism, butchery and inhumanity as being part of their recent history. Who would willingly claim it. (And even now the Turks are trying to wipe out the Dersimi Kurds again (a repeat of their genocidal actions against the Kurds in 1934) by destroying the unique, beautiful and very fragile eco-system of the region by creating unnecessary dams - really just to cover up the evidence of their bloody past against both Armenians and Kurds.
(Armenians, on the other hand, were not, education being a very basic and highly prized value). But apparently most Turkish readers are too thick to get it: either they haven't bothered to wade through the admittedly turgid writing to see what he's actually saying, or their knee-jerk reactions to his "anti-Turkishness" get in the way of their comprehension. Oh, I raped and beheaded a few 14-year-old Armenian girls and made their little brothers watch before raping them too and throwing them all into the river. But for the majority of the Turkish people, an explanation of sorts is made: In 1915, 95% of all Turks were illiterate. After WWI, among the sweeping reforms instituted by the Young Turks was the switch from an Arabic to a Roman alphabet, thus rendering most original documents of the era incomprehensible even to educated modern-day Turks. How was YOUR day, dear." Not). Somebody please stop them).
In response to the review above (One star):It is painstakingly clear to me that you are not only ignorant, but guilty and resentful. You are a perfect representation of the type of mentality and type of human being that breeds hate, ignorance, and greed. Does it really surprise you that your country's acts & policies are being viewed as "bad" or "wrong". NO ACT is deserving of MASS MURDER and torture that your people have committed toward the Armenian people. your comments are utterly disgusting, and there is no doubt in my mind that they are pitiful attempts to rationalize your guilt, and the heinous murderous acts your country has committed. If, in fact the"Italians wanted to claim independence in New York", would it then be acceptable for the "New Yorkers" to murder 75% of the Italian population. NO ACT. Your comments are saddening and exactly why your country has been so negatively stigmatized over the years.
What a ridiculous example, you fool. Your feeble attempt to JUSTIFY the Armenian genocide is disgusting and inhumane. Listen to yourself. SHAME ON YOU you pathetic excuse for a human being.
Nor I am arguing if the Turks had the right to exile and/or kill almost 1,000,000 Armenians in the process. It is easy to see how Armenians use him for their propaganda to say "hey. I claim that Akcam uses 'Armenian massacres' incident to hurt Turkey's image and to be able to say, "hey, look how evil the Turks are. They did all that to poor Armenians and they [the Turks] are practicing the same wrongdoings towards Kurds who reside in Turkey."Taner Akcam is a Kurd and naturally a Kurdish nationalist. Every nation has the right for a desire to be independent. How he obtains the historical evidence and documents he talks about in his book are questionable.I have read his books and it is hard to believe he'd be internationally recognized figure if he wrote about something else or he was Armenian and wrote about the same things. The only reason he is well known is because he is one of the first "Turkish" scholars openly talks about Armenian massacres. It is because Kurds are generally Muslims and Armenians are Christians.
Hmm, why is it so. He joined terrorist organizations such 'Dev-Genç' and later he openly supported Kurdistan Workers' Party, an organization designated as Foreign Terrorist Organization by the US State Department, EU and UK.He was imprisoned due to his actions. I am writing this to rebuke Taner Akcam's intention to hurt my nation's image. However, I can't ignore what Armenian folks had done to Turkish civilians and military in order to help invading Russian forces and establish a independent Armenian state.
I am not writing this to argue whether an act of genocide occurred. Most of Akcam's writings are actually based on Dadrian's work. Dadrian. Furthermore, He is also able to seek acknowledgment for Kurdish people's "sufferings" in Turkey.
I want you know that I am a Turk and naturally I have nationalistic feelings for my state. After all, Kurds in the region complained that the government doesn't provide enough for them]We the Turks do know what really happened. It is unfortunate, but the western world doesn't care about Kurds as much as they care about the Armenians. Mid freaking 90s for god sake. Oh I know. [This is off topic, but I must inform you.
We are ready to face the facts. In late the 1970s he tried to promote his idea of an independent Kurdish state within the Turkish soil. I have to say that it is sort of understandable. In return, he gets all that fame, recognition and money. If I did I'd be ignorant. (OMG, I guess it also explain why Western countries allowed the killings of Bosnian Muslims by Christian Serbs in mid 90s. He later escaped from prison and sought political asylum in Germany, where he met Vahakn N. During 90s Kurdistan Workers' Party members especially took aim at teachers and doctors in the eastern province.
His work is political rather than scientific. I can't deny what happened to Armenians. For your information, I am not Muslim).You see, Akcam knows that, so he uses "Armenian genocide" claims to draw attention upon Turkey and hopes to earn the West's support for Kurds in Turkey. But that's whole another subject, which I do not wish to go into detail now. (How would you feel about Italians if they demand autonomous state in New York).Well, obviously the benefit is mutual. My president repeatedly offered Robert Kocharyan to put both countries' resources together and investigate the events jointly, but he was continually rejected or ignored.I want to conclude by saying Taner Akcam's books are highly biased. He is a Turkish citizen who advocates an independent Kurdish State in Turkish soil. It is the same desire that made my ancestors so successful back in history.
It is true one million or so Armenians died, but it unfair to ignore about 3,000,000 Turks and Kurds who died due to famine, poor health conditions and of course the wars. Akcam is not a historian; he doesn't know how to read old-Turkish or Armenian languages. He is Turkish and even he admits they [the Turks] committed crimes against humanity." Well, he is not a Turk. Fear of terrorism scared the investors away, which caused tremendous economic hardship. There is much going on behind the curtains.
Lost in World, he took a direction with only one goal in life: Revenge.There is nothing new in this book, which wasn't already brought up by the other Armenian historians (and most of them are more credible). To be able to understand why this book is so severely biased, research and examine Taner Akcam's background. His illegal activities (communist-separatist) during his student years in Turkey and the subsequent events led to his hatred of his old country. Unfortunately, among the western scholars of Middle East studies, Taner Akcam's mentor is one of the relatively less respected Armenian historians.If you are willing to spend hours to learn about the Armenian views on this tragic story, do yourself a favor and at least read the books by credible Armenian historians like Ronald Suny or Ara Sarafian, for whom I have respect even if I don't fully agree with their views.
The Ottoman Empire had a war on all 3 fronts. The Turkish responsibility is a question everyone wants to ask on the fate of Armenians in World War One. Taner Akcam, by ignoring these makes conclusions on 1915 based on the opinions of some anti-Turkish reporters and diplomats. Taner Akcam definitely wondered but concluded since many Armenians died, then there must have been some plan to exterminate them based on the opinions of some Westerners who were trying to force the United States into World War One by distributing stories (grossly exaggerated) of atrocities of Germans, Austro-Hungarians, and the Ottoman Empire, since they were the Central Powers.However, many US and German consuls who were able to stay in the Ottoman Empire to witness the relocation of Armenians reported to their ambassadors that the Ottoman authorities tried to help many of the Armenians but that there was such a food shortage, that even the Turkish soldiers went to war hungry. Sanitary conditions in Eastern Turkey were terrible, and the Ottoman Empire was bankrupt. Considering, Taner Akcam did indeed escape from a Turkish prison, regardless of why he was imprisoned, it shows he truly has a strong grudge against the Turkish government. By writing books about the sensitive genocide debate, he tries to pollute opinions to support the thesis that there was an Armenian Genocide, even though so many Turks were killed before the relocations of Armenians and after the rebellions by Armenians for the purpose of creating a Free Armenia.
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