The truth about the war has reached Turkey

Presentation of Russian books and films about the Second World War at the Ankara book fair.

Photo: Alena PALAZHCHENKO

Within the framework of the 19th Ankara Book Fair, the book in Turkish by Russian historians and researchers Artyom Drabkin and Alexey Isaev “On the Great Patriotic War”, compiled from the memoirs of veterans, as well as a documentary from the RT channel “Find a Soldier”, filmed by director Pavel Baidikov about the work of Russian and German search teams. Translation, publication and arrival of guests are handled by the Russian House in Ankara.

The fairly large hall of the capital’s main congress center is filled with Turkish readers: students, teachers, historians and simply book lovers. The Russian ambassador to Türkiye, Alexey Erkhov, also arrived.

“The topic of the Great Patriotic War is very important for the Russian people, which is why today the study of the history of this disaster that affected all families continues,” he said. “We believe there is still a lot of truth to be discovered.” Scientists extract this truth from the memories of soldiers and officers who lived through the war. It is very important to tell our truth to the citizens of Turkey, who, fortunately, were saved from this disaster. Furthermore, the issue of World War II is now the subject of political controversy.

Drabkin and Baidikov, in turn, talked about work on their projects: books were distributed and a film was shown. They then answered numerous questions from the guests.

Panorama of the 19th Ankara Book Fair.

Photo: Alena PALAZHCHENKO

The interest of the Turkish public was genuine: many are simply interested in history and some study at history faculties. “Were there really participants in the war in all Soviet families?” “The search for the dead is a complex psychological job. Does everyone tolerate it, especially among young people?”, “Why did the Western allies, who fought alongside you with Hitler, suddenly take up arms against the USSR and start the Cold War?”, “Can the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Will the Soviet leaders consider it a mistake? – Questions came from the Turkish participants.

The book’s translator, Cumhur Kaygusuz, a historian and graduate of Nizhny Novgorod University, who worked on the translation for almost two years, said this work could open unknown pages of history to the Turkish public.

– In Turkey we study the Second World War mainly from Western sources, so there is a certain information gap that this book should fill. These books are not usually translated into foreign languages, he said.

Visitors were also able to see some archaeological finds from the battle sites in the Nevsky Piglet area. Among the gas masks that rusted from time to time, projectile fragments and barbed wire, what caught the attention of the Turkish public the most was a soldier’s medallion in which information about its owner was hidden. The Turks remembered that during the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923), soldiers also had identification marks, and their mothers even tried to draw special amulets with henna on the palms of their sons who went to the front.

“Any war is terrible, but sometimes it is necessary to fight to protect your country and establish peace,” they said to each other.

Artyom Drabkin during an autograph session.

Photo: Alena PALAZHCHENKO

Among the listeners we managed to find a Turk who had lived in Germany for about 50 years.

“The German authorities now do not say at all that the Russians brought peace to Europe and destroyed the Nazi regime, although it was the USSR that lost the greatest number of people and made the greatest contribution to peace and freedom” , Ekrem Demirel told KP. – But ordinary Germans, especially those from the east, sympathize with the Russians and do not see them as enemies.

The conversation went on so long that the organizers of the next event, standing at the door, clearly pointed out their watch to the conference participants. Everyone had to go to the stand of the Kronik publishing house, which published the book, and arrange an autograph session there.

During the tour of the historic center of Ankara, which a KP correspondent offered to guests from Russia, Artyom Drabkin shared his impressions of the event:

– I am pleasantly surprised by the attention that the Turkish public has paid to our book. In Turkey its circulation is four times greater than in Russia and, as the publisher claims, sales are going very well! And the questions that the listeners threw at us indicate that the Turks are deeply interested in history and are trying to objectively understand what happened during the Second World War, despite the fact that Turkey itself practically did not participate in it. I hope our book helps you with this.