As a tradition, the first article of the current issue of our Journal is Facts and Comments which summarizes the significant developments regarding the Armenian Question. The developments in  concerning the punishment of those denying the Armenian genocide allegations have gained so much significance that the entire article has been dedicated to these developments.

The second article of our Journal is entitled Mkrtich Portukalian and the “Armenia” Journal (From Terrorism to Skeptical Modesty) written by Prof. Dr. Louis Mattei. Prof Mattei sheds light on the life of Mkrtich Portukalian who is not well known but has an important position within the “revolutionary” Armenian history and particularly his “Armenia” Journal that has been published.

Prof. William Schabas is considered as authority within the field of Genocide Law and his book entitled “Genocide of International Law” is his most well known publication. It could be observed that the complications and contradictions experienced in regards to the concept of genocide, mostly due to political reasons, are also present in Schabas’s book. Prof. Dr. Sadi Çaycı addresses these complications in his article entitled The Concept of Genocide in International Law: William A. Schabas’s Views on 1915 Armenian Events.

Dr. Bahar Senem Çevik-Ersaydı, in her article entitled Dehumanization in Cartoons: A Case Study of the Image of the Turk in Asbarez Newspaper, presents how the Turkish image is tried to be dehumanized with the cartoons published in this newspaper of the Armenian Diaspora.

Derk Jan van der Linde’s article entitled The Armenian Genocide Question & Legal Responsibility deals with the Armenian Genocide Question from a legal standpoint. Linde seeks to answer whether any form of direct state and/or individual responsibility can arise under the workings of the Genocide Convention and whether it is in fact legally correct to apply the terminology of genocide to the events of 1915.

Armenia and Iran are neighbors. Moreover, there is an important Armenian minority in Iran. Apart from being neighbors, these two countries also maintain close relations for being in opposition to Azerbaijan. In her article entitled Iran and Armenia: A Symbiotic Relationship, Assistant Professor Zeynep Kaya provides an insight to the complicated and complex relations of these two countries.

French singer Charles Aznavour who is of Armenian origin has written a book concerning his own life. In his article entitled Charles Aznavour’s Book Entitled D’une Porte L’aue (From One Door To The Next): Historical Facts and Turkish Armenian Relations, Doğanay Eryılmaz addresses the statements of Aznavour in his book regarding Turkey-Armenia relations and draws attention to his significant lack of information on this issue.

This issue contains one book review.

The book of English journalist/writer Robert Fisk entitled The Great War of Civilization: The Conquest of Middle East written in 2005 has just recently been translated into Turkish. In this book, an article which has nothing to do with the Middle East and which addresses the Armenian genocide allegations under the heading The First Holocaust draws attention. In a review written by myself, Robert Fisk embracing the Armenian genocide allegations without any refrains, his exaggerated attempts in proving these allegations and his contradictory approach has been examined with examples.

Sincerely,

The Editor