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Public Radio of Armenia (20 January 2021)

Siranush Ghazanchyan

Vahram Shemmassian, head of the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Northridge, explores the history of Armenian resistance in the Musa Dagh region of the Ottoman Empire in his latest book, The California State University Northridge (CSUN) informs.

“The Armenians of Musa Dagh: From Obscurity to Genocide Resistance and Fame 1840-1915” is the second book by the Armenian scholar that chronicles the lives of the Armenian people living in the Ottoman Empire, as well as their resistance during the Armenian genocide. His first book in the series was “The Musa Dagh Armenians: A Socioeconomic and Cultural History, 1919-1939.”

Shemmassian said he sees parallels between what happened 100 years ago to what is happening today in the region, with the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh sandwiched between the two states.

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AVİM’s note: The Armenian rebellion that took place in 1915 at Musa Dagh, which occurred when a group of Armenians rejected the relocation and resettlement policy of the Ottoman Empire and resisted the Ottoman gendarmerie, is told in a highly romanticized and politicized manner in western and Armenian historiography. In contrast, in his book titled “The Armenians of Musa Dagh, 1915-1939: A Story of Insurgency and Flight” (2020), Prof. Dr. Kemal Çiçek shared his comprehensive analysis on this incident by referring to the relevant Ottoman sources, which have been underutilized so far, as well as to American, British and Red Cross documents. In this manner, Prof. Çiçek sought to provide a proper context for the incident and thus offer a more academic narration of the incident. On 22 October 2020, AVİM held an online lecture (in Turkish) titled “Musa Dagh 1915: A Revolt or A Resistance?”, at which Prof. Çiçek shared his views on this incident and introduced his above-mentioned book on this subject.

Prof. Çiçek’s note: As we have yet to acquire a copy of this newly published book, we cannot provide a definitive comment on it at this time. However, examining its bibliography, we can point out that the book does not make use of Ottoman archival documents. Furthermore, we can state that, by handling the subject in a one-sided manner, the book does not offer anything new to the literature beyond providing details on the story told in Franz Werfel’s 1933 novel titled “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh”.

Prof. Dr. Kemal Çiçek

Director, Institute of History / New Turkey Strategic Research Center