From: KELLY@SUVM.BITNET
Newsgroups: soc.culture.turkish
Subject: Silver Medallist of the Academy of Athens Exposes Greek
           Barbarism-1
Date: 19 Aug 92 05:55:53 GMT


  A Silver Medallist of the Academy of Athens Exposes Greek Barbarism


>
>"THE RELIGIOUS MINORITIES OF CHIOS: JEWS AND ROMAN CATHOLICS" by Philip
>P.Argenti and forwarded by Sir Steven Runciman  (Cambridge, at the Uni-
>versity Press; 1970)
>
>Contents here: --> Introduction
>               --> Under turkish Rule,1566-1912
>               --> Decline of Chian Catholicism
>                                                              A.Romanos
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>

  After checking this 'pro-Greek' history book recommended by Mr. Romanos,
  we find the following  information about the author:


                       Philip P. Argenti

  'CORRESPONDING MEMBER AND SILVER MEDALLIST OF THE ACADEMY OF ATHENS,

      FORMER CULTURAL COUNSELLOR TO ROYAL GREEK EMBASSY IN LONDON'

  Do the author's relations with the 'Greek Embassy' or 'The Academy
  of Athens' discredit him as a historian? Not necessarily.

  On the contrary, from what I read so far, this book seems to be a serious
  and important work regarding the history of Chios and its minorities.

  The book is biased, however, in matters concerning Turkish history and
  Turkish-Greek and Turkish-European relations. This bias probably results
  not from an ill-will on the part of the author, but due to the limitation
  and 'one-sidedness' of his sources. Thus, we read on page 6 of the book:

  <<...For the future, historians may hope that one day the mysteries of
  the Turkish archives will be sufficiently penetrated as to make them
  yield up more extensive official letters, throwing light on the history
  of both Greeks and the Jews of the Ottoman Empire.

    For the present, the only available supplements to the meagre Jewish
  and Turkish sources are, firstly, the archives of the western powers
  which have played a part in the affairs of Chios, either directly as
  rulers, or indirectly maintaining diplomatic missions in the island, or
  in Constantinople or Smyrna; ...>>

  Thus, the foremost source of this study (as that of most other history
  texts regarding the Turkish history) is the archives of the western
  powers, i.e., centuries-old opponents and enemies of the Ottoman Empire.

  Again, the unavailability of Ottoman archives to native and foreign
  scholars is not the author's fault. I will be the first one to strongly
  criticise the Kemalist governments (especially, those in years 1925-50)
  who tried to suppress any serious and scholarly study of Ottoman history.
  Fortunately, however, this situation started changing recently, as more
  and more of the Ottoman archives is being opened to historians and
  researchers.

  Enough said about that. Now, let us return to the book which Mr.Romanos
  has kindly brought to our attention.


  Philip P. Argenti (Corresponding Member and Silver Medallist of the
  Academy of Athens, Former Cultural Counsellor to Royal Greek Embassy
  in London), The Religious Minorities of Chios: Jews and Roman Catholics,
  Cambridge University Press, London, (1970).

  First, let us verify, using the book written by this 'Former Cultural
  Counsellor to Royal Greek Embassy in London,' four pieces of information
  given by Professor Stanford Shaw:

 (1) Ancient Greeks of first Century AD made up the 'blood libel' or
    'ritual murder' accusation against the Jews and this caused a lot of
    suffering for the next nearly 2,000 years.

    Does the 'Silver Medallist' verify this fact? The answer is YES [1].

(2) The Greeks, in later centuries, continued to make this accusation
    against the Jewish people.

    Does the 'Silver Medallist' verify this fact? The answer is YES [2].

(3) The Greeks attacked and massacred Jews repeatedly due to intense
    religious hatred and ritual murder accusations.

    Does the 'Silver Medallist' verify this fact? The answer is YES [3].

(4) The Ottoman Government protected or tried to protect its Jewish subjects
   from Greek 'ritual murder' attacks.

    Does the 'Silver Medallist' verify this fact? The answer is YES [4].


[1] P.P. Argenti, ibid, pages 29-30.
[2]  Ibid., pages 175-176.
[3] Ibid., pages 152, 175-176.
[4] Ibid., pages 152, 175-176.

(to be continued)

Nejat
Xref: sparky soc.culture.turkish:9183 talk.politics.mideast:18906 talk.politics.soviet:7167 soc.culture.greek:7821 soc.culture.europe:7567 soc.history:7560 soc.culture.yugoslavia:8183