PUBLISHED DIARY OF INTERIOR MINISTER OF OTTOMAN TURKEY TESTIFIES TO
MILLION DEPORTED ARMENIANS

YEREVAN, APRIL 27. ARMINFO. Turkish “Hyurriet” newspaper has published
a diary of Interior Minister at the Government of Young Turks of
Taleat-pasha.

According to the release, number of Armenians deported from Anatolia
totals 925.000, and Armenian orphans handed in charge of Moslems
numbers 6.858. Number of Armenian population of Ottoman empire – about
1,200.000 – is noted in Taleat’s diary, according to 1914 official
data. However, minister added that this number may be incomplete on
various reasons and offers to take as a base 1.5 mln people.

Historian Murad Bardakchi, who published the diary, in his comments
noted that the published figures may seem exaggerated to Turks.
“However, we should use this most refutable fact for the welfare of
our interests to refute much more excessive figures of historians
disputed us in Genocide issue”, Bardakchi writes. Besides, he called
Turkish historians not to assert that Turks had not murdered Armenians
and as if Armenians had murdered Turks. “One must throw away these
cheap comments and propaganda”, he thinks.

The diary, the fragments of which were published by “Hyurriet”, was
kept by Taleat’s wife, who handed over it her granddaughter then.