Judgment at Istanbul: The Armenian Genocide Trials

This book is not exactly a page turner. It is hard going, but it is a hugely important book. It is meticulous in its research and deeply sensitive about the appalling events that were the first genocide of the modern era. Without the Armenian genocide there might not have been the Jewish holocaust, for, as Hitler is reported to have said when challenged about the international consequences of killing the Jews, "who remembers the Armenians now?"The planned murder of the Armenian race within the Turkish Ottoman Empire is, unlike the Jewish holocaust, something that the perpetrators still deny. While Germany has gone out of its way to try and make amends for its murder of so many Jews, the Turks still deny that there was an Armenian genocide and have reacted strongly to any country that says there was. They even hired a distinguished British historian from Oxford University, Prof. Norman Stone, who lied for them in denying there had ever been an Armenian genocide. That position is completely undermined by this book.It is written by distinguished Turkish and Armenian academics. With meticulous fairness they chart the destruction of the Armenians in Turkey. They are able to do this because the Turks themselves have provided the ammunition. Immediately after the First World War, the Turks put on trial a small number of those responsible for the genocide, including some tried in absentia. The record of the trials is still in the Turkish state archives, so while Turkey was vigorously denying that there had been a genocide the evidence that there had been was in its own archives. The evidence was well hidden, for some of it was written in Ottoman Turkish, a language that now nobody speaks, and all of it survived more because of bureaucratic accident than intent. But survive it did, and the authors, who really, profoundly, understand their subject, have sifted through the mass of documents with great care.That is why this is a really important book. The subject matters. Obviously it matters to the Armenians, but it also matters to the Turks. Under Turkish president Erdogan Turkey is sinking into an Ottoman swamp of despotic government abuse of power and a chaotic foreign policy based more on myths of the past than current realities. If Turkey is ever to return to the sort of modern, pro-European path that Kemal Ataturk tried to lead the country to, then coming to terms with the Armenian genocide will be an important part of that. The outstanding scholarship of this book has a part to play in such a process.For anyone with an interest in the history of the First World War other than just the Western Front, the history of Turkey or Armenia, or the history and development of the Middle East, this book is an essential part of your library. It is hard going, but well worth the effort of perseverance.

This book - Judgment at Istanbul - written by two renowned and respected scholars Vahaken Dadrian and Taner Akcam, an Armenian and a Turk respectively, is the most accurate and revealing account to date of the court-martial proceedings conducted by the Turkish Government and Courts (1919-1922) against the major conspirators that conceived, designed and perpetrated the Armenian Genocide of 1915, including the masterminds of the Committee of Union & Progress (CUP) leaders Talat, Enver and Cemal. It is mostly based on a vast factual, indisputable and contemporary (1914-1922) sources of information available in Turkish archives.Any serious student of Genocide, particularly the Armenian Genocide of 1915, should read this book. It provides the reader an understanding of the prevailing legal structure of Turkey immediately after the end of the war; the nature and validity of the evidence brought to the attention of the Courts; the revealing interrogation and confession of the witnesses; the verdicts rendered; the results of the verdicts; and, finally the fate of the prominent fugitive masterminds that were convicted in absentia.This book is simply an ensemble of the documented historical facts of the time. There is nothing in the book that one can dispute, deny or even wish to revise. It recites the naked facts as they are. It would be a valuable resource to anyone, Armenian or otherwise, reading this book as it will place the Istanbul Trials in perspective. It would be particularly helpful to Turkish scholars to better understand their past under the Ottoman rule. It is a must read book.I want to thank the authors for their dedication, research and time for publishing this scholarly and important book to help us see the court-martial trials in Turkey concerning the Armenian Genocide in the right context and perspective.

Few people realize that the Turkish Government following world war one held war crime trials against the perpetrators of the Armenian genocide. The evidence was carefully gathered and affirmed, and all testimony was submitted to cross examination. These war crime trials were held simultaneously with those held by the British government occupied Istanbul. Unfortunately, the Turkish trials were abandoned before all the accused could be brought to judgment. With the success of Ataturk's nationalist movement, the trials were abandoned thus allowing the present day Turkish government to deny genocide.