Talaat Pasha

The first English-language biography of the de facto ruler of the late Ottoman Empire and architect of the Armenian Genocide, Talaat Pasha (1874-1921) led the triumvirate that ruled the late Ottoman Empire during World War I and is arguably the father of modern Turkey. He was also the architect of the Armenian Genocide, which would result in the systematic extermination of more than a million people, and which set the stage for a century that would witness atrocities on a scale never imagined. Here is the first biography in English of the revolutionary figure who not only prepared the way for Ataturk and the founding of the republic in 1923, but who shaped the modern world as well. In this explosive book, Hans-Lukas Kieser provides a mesmerizing portrait of a man who maintained power through a potent blend of the new Turkish ethno-nationalism, the political Islam of former Sultan Abdulhamid II, and a readiness to employ radical "solutions" and violence. From Talaat's role in the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 to his exile from Turkey and assassination--a sensation in Weimar Germany--Kieser restores the Ottoman drama to the heart of world events. He shows how Talaat wielded far more power than previously realized, making him the de facto ruler of the empire. He brings wartime Istanbul vividly to life as a thriving diplomatic hub, and reveals how Talaat's cataclysmic actions would reverberate across the twentieth century. In this major work of scholarship, Kieser tells the story of the brilliant and merciless politician who stood at the twilight of empire and the dawn of the age of genocide.

This is the smoking gun linking Talaat Pasha, the Ottoman Minister of Interior and later Grand Vizier, to the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The report was prepared for Talaat Pasha and meant for his private use. In all likelihood, it would have been destroyed, were it not for the fact that Talaat was assassinated in Berlin 1921, and his widow kept and then gave the report to a Turkish historian who eventually published it. According to Talaat's figures over 1,150,000 Armenians disappeared in the Ottoman Empire between 1915-1917. This number includes well over 100,000 Armenians who fled from the Ottoman Empire during WWI, but it does not include tens of thousands of Armenian women and children who were forcefully Islamized and absorbed into Muslim families. Talaat Pasha's Report on the Armenian Genocide also includes additional materials from his private papers showing the systematic confiscation of over 40,000 Armenian properties, surely an undercount, as "abandoned" properties confiscated by the Ottoman State cir. 1917. These records add substance to the testimonies of survivors of the Armenian Genocide and onlooker, including foreign missionaries and consular representative in the interior of Ottoman Turkey, most notably United States officials in Trebizond, Harpoot (Elazig), Mersin, Aleppo and Damascus.Much of the statistical information in Talaat's papers have been turned into colour maps for the perusal of readers.

The book represents an earthquake in genocide studies, particularly in the field of Armenian Genocide research. A unique feature of the Armenian Genocide has been the long-standing efforts of successive Turkish governments to deny its historicity and to hide the documentary evidencesurrounding it. This book provides a major clarification of the often blurred lines between facts and truth in regard to these events. The authenticity of the killing orders signed by Ottoman Interior Minister Talat Pasha and the memoirs of the Ottoman bureaucrat Naim Efendi have been two of the most contested topics in this regard. The denialist school has long argued that these documents and memoirs were all forgeries, produced by Armenians to further their claims. Taner Akçam provides the evidence to refute the basis of these claims and demonstrates clearly why the documents can be trusted as authentic, revealing the genocidal intent of the Ottoman-Turkish government towards its Armenian population. As such, this work removes a cornerstone from the denialist edifice, and further establishes the historicity of the Armenian Genocide.

A masterful account of the assassins who hunted down the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide In 1921, a tightly knit band of killers set out to avenge the deaths of almost one million victims of the Armenian Genocide. They were a humble bunch: an accountant, a life insurance salesman, a newspaper editor, an engineering student, and a diplomat. Together they formed one of the most effective assassination squads in history. They named their operation Nemesis, after the Greek goddess of retribution. The assassins were survivors, men defined by the massive tragedy that had devastated their people. With operatives on three continents, the Nemesis team killed six major Turkish leaders in Berlin, Constantinople, Tiflis, and Rome, only to disband and suddenly disappear. The story of this secret operation has never been fully told, until now. Eric Bogosian goes beyond simply telling the story of this cadre of Armenian assassins by setting the killings in the context of Ottoman and Armenian history, as well as showing in vivid color the era's history, rife with political fighting and massacres. Casting fresh light on one of the great crimes of the twentieth century and one of history's most remarkable acts of vengeance, Bogosian draws upon years of research and newly uncovered evidence. Operation Nemesis is the result--both a riveting read and a profound examination of evil, revenge, and the costs of violence.

"Based on the true story of a man who avenged a nation. Before Adolf Hitler, there was Talaat Pasha, leader of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. In 1915 Talaat ordered the mass execution of every Armenian within his nation's borders, resulting in the death of over 1,500,000 victims. This is the story of Soghomon Tehlirian, the Armenian survivor who killed him on the streets of Berlin...and walked away from court a free man. Honoring the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide." -- Back cover.

Sacred Justice is a cross-genre book that uses narrative, memoir, unpublished letters, and other primary and secondary sources to tell the story of a group of Armenian men who organized Operation Nemesis, a covert operation created to assassinate the Turkish architects of the Armenian Genocide. The leaders of Operation Nemesis took it upon themselves to seek justice for their murdered families, friends, and compatriots. Sacred Justice includes a large collection of previously unpublished letters, found in the upstairs study of the author's grandfather, Aaron Sachaklian, one of the leaders of Nemesis, that show the strategies, personalities, plans, and dedication of Soghomon Tehlirian, who killed Talaat Pasha, a genocide leader; Shahan Natalie, the agent on the ground in Europe; Armen Garo, the center of Operation Nemesis; Aaron Sachaklian, the logistics and finance officer; and others involved with Nemesis. Marian Mesrobian MacCurdy tells a story that has been either hidden by the necessity of silence or ignored in spite of victims' narratives—the story of those who attempted to seek justice for the victims of genocide and the effect this effort had on them and on their families. Ultimately, this volume reveals how the narratives of resistance and trauma can play out in the next generation and how this resistance can promote resilience.

Aram Andonian did a service to humanity by tracking down Naim Bey and recording his story. During the genocide, Naim Bey, a Turk, had been the chief secretary of the Deportations Committee of Aleppo. By virtue of this station, Naim Bey had access to documents, telegrams, and decrees related to the orders to exterminate the Armenians.