TURKISH ‘BLUE BOOK’ CRITICIZED

Hurriyet
July 01, 2009 05:40

ANKARA – The recently published Turkish edition of the "Blue Book,"
which voices claims about the Armenian genocide, aims to defeat the
Turkish position from the inside, according to a retired ambassador.

"The Turkish translation of the book is part of a strategy that aims
to make Turkish people advocate the Armenian position, both in Turkey
and abroad," said retired Ambassador Omer Engin Lutem, speaking at
a press conference in Ankara on Tuesday.

"Some of the Turkish intellectuals are thus contacted and meetings
that back the Armenian claims are organized in Turkey by the NGOs and
universities in this respect," he said. "And some publishing houses
in Turkey publish Turkish translations of Armenian or non-Armenian
people’s books that advocate genocide claims in line with this
strategy."

The book, "The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915 –
1916," also known as the "Blue Book," was originally published in 1916,
in English, by the British parliament. The central thesis of the book
is that Armenians were subject to a policy of mass annihilation in
the final years of the Ottoman Empire, starting in 1915.