ZORYAN INSTITUTE OF CANADA, INC.
255 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, Canada M3B 3H9
Tel: 416-250-9807 Fax: 416-512-1736
E-mail: zoryan@idirect.ca
CONTACT: George Shirinian
August 16, 2003
Prof. Vahakn Dadrian’s Books Published Abroad
Milan, Italy – The renowned Italian academic publishing house, Edizioni
Guerini, has just come out with an Italian-language edition of Dr. Vahakn
Dadrian’s now classic History of the Armenian Genocide: Ethnic Conflict
from the Balkans to Anatolia and the Caucasus.
In translating this massive study into Italian, Dr. Alessandra Flores
d’Arcais not only had to deal with some 500-pages of scholarly text, but
also 1,085 footnotes, some of which extend to a full page in length.
In addition to the regular edition, Guerini also produced a limited edition
deluxe version, as the book has great sentimental, as well as intellectual
appeal.
The Italian edition is based on the latest revised English edition,
published by Berghahn Books, dated 2003. The English language edition has
gone through six printings, so far, and last year appeared in a soft cover
edition, making it more readily accessible to students. The book is a
prescribed text in the Genocide and Human Rights University Program held in
Minneapolis and Toronto, and is required reading for all who take that course.
A significant portion of the book is based on a study that appeared in the
Yale Journal of International Law. In commenting on the singular value of
this study, prominent international law expert, Prof. M. Cherif Bassiouni,
President of the International Human Rights Institute, and also President
of the International Association of Penal Laws, wrote,
Of all the conflicting and contradictory literature on the subject,
including many Turkish publications denying, justifying or explaining what
happened, Dadrian’s article is the most legally convincing and from other
accounts, the closest to historical accuracy with such debated facts.
The French edition of History of the Armenian Genocide is now in its second
printing, and a slightly abridged Arabic-language version of the book has
been published in Damascus, Syria. A Greek-language edition was published
in Athens two years ago by the Stokhasis Publishing House, under the title,
Historia Tis Armenikan Genoktonias. A Bulgarian-language translation of the
article, “The Armenian Genocide and the Evidence of German Involvement,”
which originally appeared in the West Los Angeles Law Review in 1998, was
made recently by Mr. Boghig Mesrob and distributed to the Bulgarian media
and major governmental agencies, where it received widespread interest.
According to recent reports from Turkey, the release of volume one of a
collection of articles on the Armenian Genocide by Dadrian in Turkish
earlier this year by Belge Yayinlari is enjoying brisk sales through three
academic bookstores there: Dost in Istanbul, Kabile in Izmir, and Imge in
Ankara. The unusual interest by Turkish academics and intellectuals in this
subject is reportedly sparked by a review of the book by Dr. Taner Akçam,
who is currently Visiting Associate Professor in the History Department at
the University of Minnesota. To the surprise of many specialists, the
prestigious Turkish newspaper Radikal, which is comparable to the New York
Times, published Akçam’s detailed review in its entirety, and without any
editorial change.
In the review, Akçam pays high compliments to the author and describes the
book as “a priceless contribution.” He emphasizes the fact that the book
affords Turkish audiences a rare chance to acquaint themselves with this
hitherto taboo subject and to be able to engage in an informed debate and
discussion on the issue of the Armenian Genocide. He also observes that the
official denial of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey is unbecoming to a
country aspiring to genuine democracy and eventual accession to the
European Union. Even though Akçam has been conducting in-depth research on
the Armenian Genocide for more than a decade, he still expressed shock at
the scope and intensity of the atrocities surrounding the Genocide as
revealed in Dadrian’s various studies.
Dr. Vahakn Dadrian is Director of Genocide Research at the Zoryan Institute
and is currently working on several new publications.