Synopses & Reviews
This book presents the Turkish position regarding the Armenian claims of genocide during World War I and the continuing debate over this issue. The author illustrates that although genocide is a useful concept to describe such evil events as the Jewish Holocaust in World War II and Rwanda in the 1990s, the term has also been overused, misused, and therefore trivialized by many different groups seeking to demonize their antagonists and win sympathetic approbation for them. This book includes the Armenians in this category because, although as many as 600,000 of them died during World War I, it was neither a premeditated policy perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish government nor an event unilaterally implemented without cause. Of course, in no way does this excuse the horrible excesses that were committed. To illustrate this point, this book uses the recent work of the noted French scholar Jacques Semelin, and such long-suppressed Armenian personalities as Hovhannes Katchaznouni (the first prime minister of Armenia after WWI) and K.S. Papazian (an historian), among others. This book also illustrates how today Armenians have sought to politicize and legislate their version of history in parliamentary and other governmental bodies around the world, damning their opponents as genocide deniers and perpetrators of hate speech. The case of the renowned scholar Bernard Lewis is a prime example of this Armenian misuse and distortion of their politicized version of history. This book also analyzes the hypermobilized Armenian lobbying tactics that have achieved considerable success in politicizing their version of history. Among many other issues, this book also analyzes the recent “soccer diplomacy” between Turkey and Armenia, which has led to their signing treaties that will establish diplomatic relations between them and an historical commission to analyze their different versions of history
Synopsis
An analysis of the Turkish position regarding the Armenian claims of genocide during World War I and the continuing debate over this issue, the author offers an equal examination of each side's historical position. The book asks "what is genocide?" and illustrates that although this is a useful concept to describe such evil events as the Jewish Holocaust in World War II and Rwanda in the 1990s, the term has also been overused, misused, and therefore trivialized by many different groups seeking to demonize their antagonists and win sympathetic approbation for them. The author includes the Armenians in this category because, although as many as 600,000 of them died during World War I, it was neither a premeditated policy perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish government nor an event unilaterally implemented without cause. Of course, in no way does this excuse the horrible excesses committed by the Turks.
About the Author
Michael M. Gunter is a Professor of Political Science at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee and teaches during the summer at the International University in Vienna, Austria. He is the author of seven critically praised scholarly books on the Kurdish question, the most recent being The Kurds Ascending: The Evolving Solution to the Kurdish Problem in Iraq and Turkey (2008); and Kurdish Historical Dictionary (2004). In addition, he is the co-editor (with Mohammed M. A. Ahmed) of The Kurdish Question and the 2003 Iraqi War, 2005; and The Evolution of Kurdish Nationalism, 2007. He has also published numerous scholarly articles on the Kurds, United Nations, and other topics in such leading periodicals as the Middle East Journal, Middle East Quarterly, Middle East Policy, Current History, Critique, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Orient, American Journal of International Law, World Affairs, Orbis, and International Organization, among others. He was a Senior Fulbright Lecturer in International Relations in Turkey. He also has held Fulbright awards for China and Israel. Currently he is the secretary-general of the EU Turkey Civic Commission, an NGO promoting further democratization in Turkey to facilitate its accession to the EU.
Table of Contents
"Michael M. Gunter presents a scholarly and very readable presentation of the Turkish and the Armenian positions regarding the Armenian claims of genocide during World War I and the continuing debate over this issue. Without denying the great Armenian tragedy, the author illustrates that although “genocide” can be a useful concept, the term has also been overused, misused, and therefore trivialized by many different groups including the Armenians seeking to demonize their antagonists and win sympathetic approbation for themselves. This book is particularly timely given the recent “soccer diplomacy” between Turkey and Armenia and Turkeys growing importance in international political and economic relations." --M. Hakan Yavuz, Professor of Political Science, The University of Utah"This book fairly and dispassionately presents and elucidates the Turkish position on what Armenians call the first genocide of the twentieth century. I recommend it as a useful addition to the literature on this controversial and acrimoniously debated subject."--Guenter Lewy, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Massachusetts at Amherst and author of The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide