Dr. Akcam to present Aram Andonian’s “The Great Crime” in English translation in Glendale on May 11
Aram Andonian’s landmark work, The Great Crime—the first systematic documentation of the
Armenian Genocide, originally written in Armenian in 1921—is now available in English.
The publication will be presented at a book launch and fireside chat on Monday, May 11,
2026 at 6:00 PM (Pacific Time) at Glendale Central Library, 222 E. Harvard St., Glendale,
CA 91205. The evening will feature a conversation with Dr. Akçam, moderated by Glendale
Mayor Ardy Kassakhian. Learn more about the book and purchase it here.
This publication marks a major milestone in Armenian Genocide studies. The book is of
profound historical importance for two primary reasons. First, it presents a foundational account
of the extermination of the Armenians through the memoir of an Ottoman bureaucrat, Naim
Efendi, which includes handwritten copies of approximately fifty-two Ottoman documents—
among them direct orders for the killing of Armenians. As such, it offers crucial and compelling
evidence of the genocide based on original Ottoman sources.
Second, The Great Crime is not merely a compilation of documents. It also conveys the firsthand
observations of both Andonian and Naim Efendi regarding the fate of the Armenians. The work
therefore stands as both a documentary record and a firsthand testimonial.
In 1983, the Turkish government sought to discredit Andonian’s work, arguing on three principal
grounds that the materials were fraudulent: that the Ottoman official in question never existed;
that no such memoir could therefore exist (and that, if it did, its original handwritten version
should be produced); and that the telegrams themselves were inauthentic due to alleged
inconsistencies. As a result, Andonian’s work—and the documents it contained—were dismissed
for decades and largely excluded from scholarly use.
This position was fundamentally challenged in 2018 with the publication of Dr. Taner Akçam’s
Killing Orders, which directly confronted and decisively refuted these claims, restoring the
Andonian–Naim materials as credible and indispensable sources for the study of the Armenian
Genocide.
Andonian’s work is now accessible to English-language readers. This new edition of The Great
Crime includes a substantial introduction by Dr. Akçam, which synthesizes the core findings of
Killing Orders while incorporating new evidence and insights, along with a specially prepared
appendix. Its publication today represents a critical step forward in expanding access to
foundational sources and deepening our understanding of the Armenian Genocide.
