Affective Archives of Atrocity: Allied-Occupied Istanbul and the Ottoman War Crimes Tribunals, 1919–20

This talk reexamines the Ottoman Extraordinary Military Tribunals (1919–20) in Allied-occupied Istanbul, which sought to prosecute atrocities against Armenians. Archival fragments from the trials reveal both the limits of law and the cultural afterlives of genocide, documenting state violence, survivor experiences, and the enduring role of these discredited tribunals in shaping memory and nation-building.

Presenter:

Erdağ Göknar, a Turkish-American scholar, and Associate Professor; he is best known for his award-winning translation of Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red, which helped establish Pamuk as a world author and contributed to his 2006 Nobel Prize.

Moderator and commentator

Kata Gellen is Associate Professor of German Studies and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies