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Gregory Topalian* Lecture “The Post World War One Trials and Their Uses in Genocide Denial."

Synopsis by Anoush Melkonian

At a lecture organised on 22 April 2007 by the Gomidas Institute, at Armenian House, London, Gregory Topalian spoke for forty minutes when he explored a number of avenues regarding the two post-WWI trials of Young Turks accused of crimes against humanity for their part in the genocide of Ottoman Armenians.

Topalian contrasted the fates of the two trials that took place following the First World War, both the Ottoman Internal Military Tribunal, and the International Trials. Whilst the former was unequivocal in it's condemnation of those guilty of the crimes, sentencing the leaders to death, the international trials disintegrated under the weight of into Western Governments' bargaining to get the best deal out of Turkey's defeat.

Topalian went on to analyse how the International Trials failure is often used  by deniers to suggest that no-one was brought to justice, therefore there could be no crime. Topalian exposed the fact that deniers have full knowledge of what happened at the trials, but choose instead not to engage on the minutia of those trials. Meanwhile they simply dismiss the Internal trials as post war propaganda.

Bringing the lecture to a close, Topalian pointed out some of the mechanisms of denial, whilst exploring similarities between the denials of genocide over the last century. The lecture was followed by a lively and thought provoking Q and A session

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Topalian also presented a similar lecture on 24 April 2007 as a key note speaker at the commemorative event at the Houses of Parliament sponsored by the British Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group.

* GregoryTopalian is a specialist on the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide. He is a professional educator and directs the Gomidas Institute's educational projects in the United Kingdom.

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Last modified on 13 November 2007.