Ararat-Eskijian Museum

Armenian Bar Association

Organization of Istanbul Armenians

National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)

Present

The Memoir of Naim Bey and

Talat Pasha Telegrams:

Are They “Armenian Forgeries”?

A Lecture By

Dr. Taner Akçam

Robert Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian

Mugar Professor of Armenian Genocide Studies, Clark University

Sunday, November 20, 2016, 4:00 p.m.

In 1920-21, author and editor Aram Andonian published a book known in English as The Memoirs of Naim Bey and in Armenian as Medz Vojirě (The Great Crime).  It contained the writings of an Ottoman official and telegrams from Talat Pasha containing orders for the killing of Armenians.

In 1983, Turkish authors Sinasi Orel and Sureyya Yuca published a book to establish that the memoir was fake and the telegrams were forgeries.  The argument had three main pillars: 1) there was no such person as Naim Bey; 2) there is no actual memoir, since a non-existing person cannot write a memoir; and 3) the so-called Talat Pasha telegrams, like the alleged memoir, were invented by Andonian.

Although noted researcher Fr. Krikor Guerguerian (Kriger) in 1965 published a detailed examination of Andonian’s published and unpublished materials and Vahakn N. Dadrian in 1986 published a lengthy response to Orel and Yuca, in general the scholarly world ceased using the memoir and telegrams as trustworthy sources.  Until now, the claims against Andonian have remained unanswered and became the cornerstone of denialism.

Taner Akçam risked venturing into this highly disputed territory and pursued the matter to its necessary conclusion, seeking out the archival sources and documents needed for a proper scholarly assessment.  The question must be asked: Is it time to remove one of the last bricks in the denialist wall and watch the façade crumble?

Ararat-Eskijian Museum—Sheen Chapel

15105 Mission Hills Road, Mission Hills, CA

Admission free (donations appreciated).

For more information about this program, contact Ararat-Eskijian Museum at (747) 500-7585 or [email protected], or NAASR at (617) 489-1610 or [email protected].