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