Zarakolu, Zoryan Collaborate in Turkish Publication of German Archives

TORONTO—Ragip Zarakolu, a publisher in Istanbul and a renowned champion of human rights, has collaborated with the Zoryan Institute to lay one more building block on the foundation of a common body of knowledge for Turks and Armenians. Zarakolu, despite being in jail in Turkey since October 2011 allegedly in connection with the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) trials, has not stopped his efforts to bring out the historical truth about the “events of 1915” and thereafter.

On Jan. 12, 2012, Belge Yayinlari, Zarakolu’s publishing house, released Alman Belgeleri Ermeni Soykimi 1915-16: Alman Disisleri Bakanligi Siaysi Arsiv Belgeleri, the Turkish edition of The Armenian Genocide 1915-16: Documents from the Political Archives of the German Foreign Office, compiled and edited by Wolfgang Gust and published originally in Germany. The book was the product of 10 years of devoted research, editing, and translating overseen by Wolfgang and Sigrid Gust. It is an extensive selection of 218 telegrams, letters, and reports from German consular officials in the Ottoman Empire to the Foreign Office in Berlin describing the unfolding genocide of the Armenians.