Abstract

Pertinent to contemporary demands for reparations from Turkey is the relationship between law and property in connection with the Armenian Genocide. This book examines the confiscation of Armenian properties during the genocide and subsequent attempts to retain seized Armenian wealth. Through the close analysis of laws and treaties, it reveals that decrees issued during the genocide constitute central pillars of the Turkish system of property rights, retaining their legal validity, and although Turkey has acceded through international agreements to return Armenian properties, it continues to refuse to do so. The book demonstrates that genocides do not depend on the abolition of the legal system and elimination of rights, but that, on the contrary, the perpetrators of genocide manipulate the legal system to facilitate their plans.

“This book is a valuable addition to filling the gaps of our understanding of genocide and helps readers navigate complex terrain in the case study presented… I recommend this book as a case study to be included in graduate level courses. In addition to its thorough review of the questionable statecraft of genocidal states, it is a reminder of the merits of engaged scholarship. Akçam and Kurt, by sharing their research as an act of solidarity with citizens who continue to challenge state restraints and master narratives based on genocide, make a contribution to the ongoing process of crafting a just society.” • Histoire Sociale/Social History

“[This volume] will make an invaluable contribution to the field of genocide studies. It is meticulously researched and features superb attention to detail.” • Deborah Mayersen, University of Wollongong

“Akçam and Kurt have written a fundamentally important book... We know that genocides are accompanied by the expropriation of the assets possessed by the targeted population… But nothing like that has been done for the Armenian Genocide—until now.” • Eric Weitz, CUNY City College

Taner Akçam holds the Kaloosdian and Mugar Chair of Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University. His best-known books are A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility (Metropolitan Books, 2006);  Judgment at Istanbul: The Armenian Genocide Trials, with Vahakn Dadrian (Berghahn Books, 2011); and The Young Turks’ Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire, (Princeton University Press, 2012), which in 2013 received the Middle East Studies Association’s Hourani Book Prize and  was listed by Foreign Affairs as “Best International Relations Books of 2012.”

Umit Kurt received his PhD in History from Clark University in 2016, and his MA in European Studies from Sabancı University in 2008. He was a visiting professor in the Armenian Studies Program at California State University in 2015–16, and a post-doctoral fellow at CMES, Harvard University in 2016–17. Currently, he is the Polonsky Fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, Polonsky Academy for Advanced Studies.

The Jerair Nishanian Foundation generously supported and financed the translation of this book.