99 - all you should know about the Genocide April, 2014 | Page 48
— Soykırım ile ilgili resmi belgeler Ermeniler tarafindan
General of the Turkish State Archives, oversaw
yazılmıştır. (The Armenians created the documents related to
an operation to select and systematize the
the genocide [Turkish translation]).
archive documents. On May 16, 1989, the Turkish
government officially declared the intention to
The Myth of the Ottoman Archives
open the Ottoman archives. These included the
The denialists insist that several pieces of
documents related to the Armenians, but only
evidence,
have
10,000 were opened of the 7 million documents
been created by the Armenians themselves. This
classified by a special commission. This was
insistence is accompanied by the propaganda
declared to be an unprecedented move, and
disseminated about the opening of the Ottoman
was aimed to ensure silence about the fact that
archives.
a large number of documents had simply been
documents
and
testimonials
The Ottoman archives contain an immense
burned after the 1980 military coup.
amount of information not just about the Turks
However, even if the Ottoman archives had not
but also on the history of the peoples ruled by
been sterilized, it would probably not have been
the Ottoman yoke. Even in the 1960s, Ankara
possible to find an order about the annihilation
had perceived the threat that these documents
of the Armenians there, or even more minor
posed to Turkey and allowed only a handful of
related commands.
individuals access to the Ottoman archives.
a very small circle of the Young Turk elite – the
Over a number of years, İsmet Miroğlu, Director
commands were mainly verbal and top secret.
Title: Armenian Orphans deported
Creator(s): Bain News Service, publisher
Date Created/Published: [no date recorded on caption card]
Medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ggbain-35449
(digital file from original negative)
The decision was taken by