Introduction

THE point of departure in this work must needs be the book of Aram Andonian and the ‘documents’ it contains.

Andonian’s work was published in London in 1920 under the title: The Memoirs of Naim Bey, Turkish Official Documents Relating to the Deportations and Massacres of Armenians.[1] In the same year it also appeared in Paris with the title: Documents Officiels concernant les Massacres Armeniens,[2] and in Boston (in Armenian) where it was entitled: The Great Crime, The Latest Armenian Massacres and Talat Pasha. Official Telegrams with their signed originals. (The English and French versions will be cited hereafter as Andonian, Memoirs, and Andonian, Documents.)

Of prime importance to our understanding of the genesis of Andonian’s work is a recent Armenian publication entitled: Justicier du Genocide Armenien, Le Proces de Tehlirian, which appeared in Paris in 1981, as a publication of the Dashnak organization called the ‘Comite de Defense de la Cause Armenienne’, or the ‘CDCA’ cited hereafter as Justicier du Genocide.[3]

The importance of this latter book stems from several factors. First, it includes the minutes of the trial of Soghomon Tehlirian which was held in Berlin on 2—3 June 1921 (Tehlirian had assassinated Talat Pasha in Berlin on 15 March 1921), during which ‘documents’ from Andonian’s book were a topic of discussion, although he himself was not allowed to testify. Second, it includes copies of two letters written by Andonian on 10 June 1921 and on 26 July 1937, which provide interesting evaluations of the ‘documents’ contained in his book. The letter dated 10 June 1921 was addressed to Tehlirian’s attorneys, while that of 26 July 1937 was written to an Armenian woman named Mary Terzian who resided in Switzerland.

In the present study we take Andonian’s work as the starting-point from which derive the ‘documents’ attributed to Talat Pasha, which in turn constitute the backbone of the Armenian claims. In the course of our analysis we will discuss those factors which until today have been unnoticed or overlooked, and also publish the relevant authentic Ottoman documents from the archives.

While this discussion will provide the necessary answers to the question of whether or not Andonian’s ‘documents’ are authentic, it will also demonstrate the extent to which the propaganda carried on by Armenian circles for more than sixty years on the subject of the ‘documents’ attributed to Talat Pasha is unfounded.

[1] Andonian, Aram, The Memoirs of Naim Bey, Turkish Official Documents Relating to the Deportations and Massacres of Armenians (London, 1920). (Hereafter cited as: Andonian, Memoirs.)
[2] Andonian, Aram, Documents Officiels Concernant les Massacres Armeniens (Paris, 1920). (Hereafter cited as: Andonian: Documents.)
[3] Anonymous, Justicier du Genocide Armenien, Le Proces de Tehlirian (Paris, 1981). (Hereafter cited as: Justicier du Genocide.)