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A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility

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One of the many achievements of Taner Akcam's excellent, provoking and unsentimental 'A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the question of Turkish Responsibility' is in shifting a generally acknowledged human disgrace from the particular to the whole.

This impeccably researched and written historical tragedy, is specifically aimed at the people of Turkey to consider the suffering inflicted in their name on minorities, especially the Armenians,living within the borders of the Ottoman Empire prior to, during and immediately following the First World War.

But equally, he is alert to the self-interest and lack of responsibility shown by the major Western powers, all sheltering uneasily together under the umbrella of an evolving World War that inevitably occurred. This included Russia in a state of revolution itself.

As Akcam unerringly concludes, the Great Powers used the terms human rights and democracy to "legitimize the most obvious colonial moves" towards Ottoman territory and the Turkish people began to view these notions as "Western hypocrisy."

Following the international failure post-war and subsequently to bring perpetrators of the Armenian genocide to justice, Akcam suggests mankind may not yet be able "to draw a clear line of division between humanitarian goals, on the one hand, and a state's economic and political interests, on the other."

In this situation, which would seem to apply to the great majority of major and minor players of our globe's so-called United Nations, how can we (as Akcam says) "come to a consensus about ethical norms."

As long as man and womankind harbour and prefer for whatever reason to express actively or passively negative qualities like self-interest,greed, pride and dominance, violence and war and "crimes against humanity" will continue.

Nevertheless,it is a book such as this, so ably scribed and argued, that offers new hope and, perhaps ultimately, relief from our darkest propensities.

This book shows that Taner Akcam has emerged as the leading Turkish historian who possesses the linguistic knowledge (reading of Ottoman Turkish) and access to archives in Turkey to tackle the subject that is the source of denial by the Turkish State. This book without exception is the most readable and best documented to support the Armenian case of being victims of genocide in 1915 and explains that even the government of Mustafa Kemal understood and recognized the genocide. Akcam explains that the title of the book, "A Shameful Act" is from a speech by Kemal himself. But in addition to a clear explanation of the facts without polemic, Akcam clearly understands that denial of the genocide is a threat to Turkish democracy. He dedicates the book to a "righteous Turk" who saved Armenians. This brings his writing and empathy closer to that of the most serious works that attempt to understand the Holocaust. Genocide studies can be thankful for Akcam's research and writing. The support for the book has also come from very positive reviews in top newspapers and journals. This is a great achievement and a must read.

I thank Taner Akcam for being brave and for speaking up for the Armenians, who suffered the first genocide of the 20th century. Unfortunately, there is an ever growing movement by the Turkish government to cover this up, and they are paying countless individuals to go online and spread lies. Money truly talks for most corrupt individuals, and morals/ ethics are swept under the carpet. Unfortunately for these individuals, the entire Armenian diaspora is speaking up about their past and the horrors that their families were subjected to. Turkey cannot change the American, German, Austrian and English archives. The Turkish government has been actively going through their own archives to get rid of all traces of the genocide they so delliberatly planned. The government pays people to come to websites such as this one, and make comments on books they have never even read. These are individuals who are filled with so much hate against an entire nation, the Armenians, that it is truly a sad thing to watch. They also actively go out and try to smear the reputations of scholars who are for genocide recognition. One of those examples is Taner Akcam, who has received so much hate mail and death threats for simply speaking the truth.
Look at the historical archives in countries other than Turkey (because Turkey has actively been cleaning out all traces of this crime from their records). Research the U.S., British, German and Austrian records during the times of the Armenian Genocide. The U.S. and Israel are very aware that the genocide happened. But for political reasons, they currently don't want to upset their only friend in that region, Turkey. But soon the world will see that if you let a murderer get away with murder, they will only come back to commit the same crimes again. In the early 20th century, the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians suffered genocide at the hands of the Turkish/ Ottoman empire. Today the Kurdish people are suffering. And tomorrow.. who knows!
This is a lesson to all nations: Stop all genocides now! Stop the denials now!

Taner Akcam offers a valid and lucid perspective as well as a historically accurate explanation regarding the circumstances surrounding the Ottoman Empire's systematic massacre and elimination of the Armenians. His book is a true testimonial of Turkish crimes against humanity. This book clearly defines the complicity of the (Ottoman) Turkish state. The author evaluates and explains how during the war, 1915 thru 1921, the Turks methodically, planned and executed this genocide - and that their malicious actions were not just random happenstance resulting from said war. The act of genocide is distinguished from "normal" warfare in Mr. Akcam's book, leading the reader and the world to ponder if and when there will be retribution and justice for the Armenians...

This obviously is a political book on a controversial past event. Since I know little on this subject so I bought this book to learn more on this subject but unfortunately it means that I cannot assess the facts of the book properly.

The argument of the writer is that a dangerous shift took place in the Ottoman Empire and its policy changed to a Turkish nationalism. To these Turkish nationalist the existence of the Armenians in Turkish areas was a threat to this state so from about 1915 to the early 1920's they created a planned genocide of the Armenians.

After reading the book which I found tedious in parts, I am not convinced that he has proved his argument that a genocide took place.

Genocide surprisingly is a difficult case to prove. Partly because fortunately we have few examples as they are not that common. However also because the evidence is suppressed and denied for example during WW2, the Nazi destroyed the evidence while they did it and after almost all senior Nazis denied knowledge or responsibility for it.

What the book does show is that last scale deportations of the Armenians took place and that these did result in large-scale crimes against them which include robbery, kidnapping and a million murders. Having said this, I am not so sure it matters whether a genocide took place, clearly many people were murdered because they were Armenians.

After 1920s when they should have some justice, it was denied. It is a shame that so few people that did these robbery, kidnapping and murders were punished.

This important work by a Turkish scholar and dissident examined not every detail of the genocide but the question of Ottoman policy and the Turkish regime's responsibility. The first third of the book examines the Ottoman policy towards minorities and the way in which Islam was blended into Turkish nationalism.

The second third of the book examines Turkish policy and culpability during the war and the genocide that stretched from 1915 through to 1921. The book establishes the fact that the Ottoman-Turkish state was responsible for planning the genocide, that they were not just 'local massacres' or an outcome of 'war' and 'chaos'. This is important for it lays the groundwork for the last portion of the book which examines attempts by the allied powers to bring the genocidaires to justice.

The last portion examines Kemal Ataturk and his post-war regime and its role in resolving issues of genocide and justice. In the end the Turkish state denied the genocide and not only that but worked hard to cleanse all the other minorities include the Greeks, the Pontic Greeks, the Assyrians and the Jacobites, along with the Kurds.

This is an important book and the author makes many important incisive comments and observations not found elsewhere.

Seth J. Frantzman

"A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility", Tanner Akcam, NY, Metropolitan Books, 2006. ISBN 10:0-8050-7932-7, HC, 376 pg., plus Preface 13 pg., Notes 88 pg., & an Index 17 pg.; 9 1/2" x 6 1/2". A 3rd book by Turk sociologist/historian translated by Paul Bessemer in 1999.

Akcam details the rise & fall of the Ottoman Empire, its racial, ethnic & religious makeup, & how, during its decline, Turkish Nationalism developed under "CUP" & of principals involved. It unfolds ghastly details of the Ottoman Empire's annihilation of the non-Muslims, largely Christian Armenians, but also Greeks & Kurds, etc. Its proclammatory targeted deporatations included use of the Baghdad to Berlin railway, death marches, mass shootings & beatins & drownings, & starvation. It details Allied Powers' secret pacts to divide up the Ottoman Empire to control trade in the Black & Meditterranean Seas via the Dardenelles. It concludes with attempts to formalize trials against officials who had contrived the Armenian Genocides (AG) & describes various obstacles & finals outcomes with amnesty for the majority. A triumvirate of "Young Turks, namely - Talat Pasha, Enver Pasha, Cemel Pasha & their ideologue Gokalp promoting "Turkification is nicely outlined.

Interestingly, I found no devices, events or acts Adolf Hitler used in his quest for a "final solution" that had not been used a decade earlier by these Turkish Muslims, & this includes concentration & work camps, pillaging, rape, tortures, mass drownings, digging one's own grave, & starvation. Hitler was a copy cat in his genocide, devising nothing new save a numbering system.

The read is good, at times tedious, but at all times explaining the complexity of the AG. Resolution of some unsettled goings on will never occur as the unfolding of this history is truly enigmatically complex, full of disingenuous conspiracies but demonstrates the pressing need to prosecute those guilty of crimes against humanity, i.e. the genocide & gendercides. Turkey steadfastly denies the AG, but it also had changed their official language C. 1922 so original records are largely confined to scholars. I believe the book is the most accurate accounting of the AG written to date.

In this important book the pioneering Turkish historian Taner Akcam makes his work on the causes of the Armenian Genocide available to those who do not speak German, the language of his most important previous book on the subject. Akcam, who for years has worked in Germany as well as more recently in the United States, is especially strong in explaining how Turkish nationalism grew increasingly radical before and during the First World War. This is a very important contribution to the growing literature on the subject, including Donald Bloxham's The Great Game of Genocide. A number of recent books such as Benjamin Lieberman's Terrible Fate: Ethnic Cleansing in the Making of Modern Europe, Michael Mann's Dark Side of Democracy, and Norman Naimark's Fires of Hatred, provide comparative discussion of the Armenian Genocide.

In his discussion of causes and consequences of genocide Akcam takes a somewhat similar chronological approch to Vahakn Dadrian, but this is still not exactly a comprehensive history of the subject. Peter Balakian's Burning Tigris is very good on American responses, but the world still awaits the first truly comprehensive and authoritative history of the Armenian Genocide.

This is an excellent documentation by a Turkish historian about Turkish history from a Turkish perspective.

It challenges modern nationalism (built on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire) and also pulls into question some modern political theories, regarding Turkish ethnic policies. For this reason, some nationalists will resort to attacking the author but its obvious that they haven't read the book, because the issues and reasoning isn't offensive except to those who have knee-jerk reactions to certain ethnic issues.

And in fairness, the modern Turkish nation has quite a bit of ethnic issues with its own citizens, so of course their nationalists will not like this book (or their own national hypocrisy). This book is written for reasonable Turkish people, who can think for themselves...its not for those who want to believe the government line regarding its national policies.

This book is the most NON-Scientific book I've ever read. No proofs at all. Very inconsistent with other sources. All of his words are based on speculations. Has he ever considered WHY the Ottoman government decided to deport the Armenian population (not all of them)? The book is logically flawed, no proof, and very biased. This is not history. This is just another political propaganda. Very nice for wasting your time though..