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==Background==
==Background==
Since he does not read [[Ottoman Turkish]], Lewy relied on two unnamed individuals to translate materials for him.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kéchichian |first1=Joseph A. |title=A Response to Michael Gunter's Review of "The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide (IJMES 38 [2006]: 598-601)" |journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies |date=2007 |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=509–512 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30069560 |issn=0020-7438|quote=One is dealing here with a book whose author admits a lack of familiarity with both Ottoman and Turkish languages. Lewy declares that he does not know Turkish at all and that he had to depend on"two Turkish speaking persons" (p. 292, n. 112) as well as on others"who have translated some important Turkish materials for me" (p. xiii). However, departing from a very common standard procedure, Lewy repeatedly avoids identifying those who, he says, helped him in the matter of translation of numerous documents. Would it be unfair to ask, under these circumstances, why go to such a highly unusual act of withholding?}}</ref>
The sources used are in European languages only; he never used sources originally written in Armenian or in Turkish.<!--From McCarthy p. 337--> [[Justin McCarthy (American historian)|Justin McCarthy]] of the [[University of Louisville]] wrote that Armenian sources would get more representation compared to Turkish sources and documents from the imperial archives since more Armenian sources had been translated into European languages.<ref name=McCarthyp337>[[Justin McCarthy (American historian)|McCarthy]], p. 337.</ref> Armenian Genocide historian [[Taner Akçam]] of [[Clark University]] stated that in general Western researchers were not aware of the majority of Armenian or Turkish materials, as well as Russian ones, due to the language barrier.<ref name=Akçamp117>[[Taner Akçam|Akçam]], p. 117.</ref>


==Contents==
==Contents==

Revision as of 22:24, 12 December 2020

The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide is a 2006 book by Guenter Lewy, published by the University of Utah Press, about the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. The book's reception was overall negative with reviewers identifying significant "errors of fact, interpretation, and omission".[1]

Background

Since he does not read Ottoman Turkish, Lewy relied on two unnamed individuals to translate materials for him.[2]

Contents

The work focuses on the Armenian Genocide during 1915-1916 and provides no coverage of subsequent years.[3]

Lewy argued that there was not enough evidence to support the conclusion that the Ottoman government deliberately attempted to destroy the Armenian population through a genocide.[4] Akçam stated that this was the "central thesis" of the book with this statement made on several occasions. The author stated that the high death toll was simply a byproduct of the conditions of the marches and on sporadic attacks rather than a planned attempt to kill the Armenians.[5] Edward J. Erickson of The Middle East Journal stated "He does not attempt to answer the question, "was it a genocide or not?""[3]

According to the author, evidence that stated that the genocide was deliberate was doctored:[4] The Memoirs of Naim Bey,[5] the documents of the Turkish courts-martial of 1919–1920, and other documents related to the Special Organization (SO). He also argued that hearsay formed the basis of The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire (nicknamed the "Blue Book"),[6] and that the speech made by Reşit Akif Pasha accusing the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) Central Committee of instigating a genocide was dishonestly made.[7]

Lewy, who decided that a lack of competence in the Ottoman authorities was the reason for the deaths,[6] as well as local government officials disobeying the central government,[8] includes criticisms of the Ottoman government, stating that it took too harsh action against perceived Armenian threats,[9] that the amount of Armenian deaths and damage exceeded that of what the Turks experienced, and that the Ottoman government did not provide adequate protections for any ethnic group.[4]

Lewy's book includes criticisms of Vahakn Dadrian's work.[4]

Reception

Akçam argued that the central thesis of the book was an unproven theory while Lewy himself argued that the idea of genocide being planned was a theory; Akçam also stated that there were other documents that proved the genocide was planned.[10] Akçam also stated that the author misinterpreted some documents, that his lack of skills in Turkish hampered his research,[11] and that Lewy was not informed of current research. In addition Akçam disliked the author's dichotomy of "Armenian" and "Turkish" "sides" to the Armenian genocide denial dispute,[12] as it conflates Armenians of differing allegances together and because "it should be an unacceptable attitude for asocial scientist to classify the differences of interpretation of these events according to ethnic origin."[13]

McCarthy wrote that it as "an outstanding work of historiography".[4]

Michael M. Gunter, after having written a positive statement that was used on the cover of The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey, wrote a review of the book for the International Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES) without the editors' knowledge that he had made the positive statement. History News Network stated that the review "reportedly arrived in their office sans cover."[14] Two academics, Joseph A. Kéchichian,[15] and Keith David Watenpaugh,[16] criticized the presence of the review in the IJMES. Gunter issued a response to his critics.[14]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Watenpaugh, Keith David (2007). "A RESPONSE TO MICHAEL GUNTER'S REVIEW OF THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES IN OTTOMAN TURKEY: A DISPUTED GENOCIDE ( IJMES 38 [2006]: 598–601". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 39 (3): 512–514. doi:10.1017/S0020743807070869. The majority of the postpublication reviews of Lewy's work have identified obvious and egregious errors of fact, interpretation, and omission most of which presumably would have been caught had the text been carefully scrutinized by competent and nonpartisan readers.
  2. ^ Kéchichian, Joseph A. (2007). "A Response to Michael Gunter's Review of "The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide (IJMES 38 [2006]: 598-601)"". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 39 (3): 509–512. ISSN 0020-7438. One is dealing here with a book whose author admits a lack of familiarity with both Ottoman and Turkish languages. Lewy declares that he does not know Turkish at all and that he had to depend on"two Turkish speaking persons" (p. 292, n. 112) as well as on others"who have translated some important Turkish materials for me" (p. xiii). However, departing from a very common standard procedure, Lewy repeatedly avoids identifying those who, he says, helped him in the matter of translation of numerous documents. Would it be unfair to ask, under these circumstances, why go to such a highly unusual act of withholding?
  3. ^ a b Erickson, Edward J. (Spring 2006). "ARMENIANS: The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide". The Middle East Journal. - Available on Questia
  4. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference McCarthyp337 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Akçam, p. 112.
  6. ^ a b Akçam, p. 114.
  7. ^ Akçam, p. 113.
  8. ^ Akçam, p. 115.
  9. ^ Brown, L. Carl (2006-05-01). "The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide". Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  10. ^ Akçam, p. 116.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Akçamp117 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Akçam, p. 118.
  13. ^ Akçam, p. 119.
  14. ^ a b "Michael Gunter: He blurbed a book ... Should he then have reviewed it?". History News Network. Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, George Washington University. 2007-08-17. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
  15. ^ Kéchichian, p. 509.
  16. ^ Watenpaugh, Extract.

Further reading

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