Turkish-Armenian at odds over new book

A book written by Armenian historian Ara Sarafyan that includes historical documents published by Turkish researcher Murat Bardakçı has sparked a new debate between the two figures.

Bardakçı has accused Sarafyan of plagiarism in the book “Talat Paşa’s Report on the Armenian Genocide, 1917,” while Sarafyan has countered that Bardakçı is uncomfortable about the findings in the monograph, which draws heavily on the Turkish researcher’s work but also includes some additional documents.

“He has appropriated parts he saw fit, added explanations according to his own fancy and then published it under his own name without any shame or embarrassment. This is worse than plagiarism; it is outright theft,” journalist and writer Murat Bardakçı said.

Bardakçı prepared his book, “Talat Paşa’s Dead Letter,” in 2008 with personal documents compiled from Talat Paşa’s archives. Bardakçı said his publisher was going to initiate legal proceedings against Sarafyan, the director of the Gomidas Institute.

Sarafyan, meanwhile, also responded to the accusations; “I have made a more solid case – Talat’s report was actually based on official Ottoman records. I have also analyzed Talat’s data in the way that Talat would have read them,” he recently told the Daily News.


/Hurriyet Daily News/