Finally, the book that Emanuel Poli has been bragging about for over 20 years has been published. It was supposed to be an authentic historical document that would give us insight into our history. It turns out to be full of lies and romanticized notions.
Emanuel Poli has deliberately omitted the dates of important meetings and the birthdates of key figures. Together with the author, he has made it extremely difficult to follow important events and key figures. But anyone with even a basic knowledge of history immediately realizes that the entire book serves a single purpose: to portray Hanne Safar as a hero—the very person who caused Turabdin’s capital to fall so quickly during the Seyfo and who prevented all the villages in Turabdin from defending themselves.
And this is precisely what the author is attempting to do, by using fictional places, fictional names, and made-up events. Emanuel Poli has claimed on a YouTube channel (Shemsho Media) that Safar Safar organized a rebellion against Mir Bedirhan in 1863, won the battle, and liberated Turabdin. And his son, Hanne Sefer, is said to have played a heroic role.
In an article I wrote in Huyada, I pointed out that the entire story is a lie, since Mir Bedirhan had already been deported in 1847 and was no longer in the area. And Hanne Safar, who is said to have been a hero, was only five years old at the time. Emanuel Poli has not yet responded to this text.
When we read the book *Sayfo Rabo*, it states that this battle took place in 1864, and no man named Mir Bedirhan is mentioned in it. What we can glean from it is the name of an unknown force known as Bothani’s force. It states that Safar Safar had met with Sultan Abdulaziz and received a Turkish army of 20,000 men under General Shevket Bey. It does not mention when this meeting took place. There is no person named General Shevket Bey. The Ottoman Turks never referred to any military officer as a general; instead, they were called pasha. (Sayfo Rabo, p. 20)
The book also states that Safar Safar fought against Bedirhan between 1839 and 1843. Bedirhan is mentioned here, but Safar Safar could not have been older than five at that time. In the book written by Patriarch Afrem Barsoum, *The History of Turabdin*, we read that Safar Safar attended school at the Kartmin Monastery in 1849. Furthermore, in 1839, Christians were not even permitted to carry knives. (Sayfo Rabo, p. 185)
The next significant event is Hanne Safar’s meeting with the sultan in Mardin. Once again, neither the date nor the sultan’s name is given. During Hanne Safar’s heyday, there were two sultans: Sultan Abdulhamid and Sultan Resad. Sultan Abdulhamid reigned from 1876 to 1909 and never left Constantinople (Istanbul). Sultan Resad reigned between 1909 and 1918 and never visited Mardin.
The next lie concerns the hero from the village of Aynverdo, Gallo Shabo. The book states that Hanne Safar heard about Gallo Shabo’s arrest and that he, along with his men, stormed the district governor’s (Kaymakam) office. He challenged the arrest and demanded that Gallo Shabo be released immediately. The district governor backed down from his decision and released Gallo Shabo. Gallo Shabo himself has written about his arrest, and this account has been published by Professor David Gaunt. Shabo recounts that he was arrested and taken to the prison in Midyat, where he was tortured daily for 40 days. (Sayfo Rabo, p. 245)
The next lie concerns Azax. The people of Azax defended themselves against the Turkish army, Kurdish clans, militias, and the Germans. It is the best-documented battle. War Minister Enver Pasha sent a telegram; Kamil Pasha was involved; the vali (Ottoman provincial governor) of Diyarbekir was involved; the German consul in Mosul, Holstein, was involved; Commander-in-Chief Goltz Pasha was involved; and the priest Gabriel kept a diary. The people of Azax defended themselves from July 1 until the end of November 1915. To try to attribute the victory to Hanne Safar’s son Skandar by claiming that he brought about the peace is a mockery. (Sayfo Rabo, p. 333)
For the book’s treatment of the relationship with Protestants, I refer you to the article written by Jennifer Kaldoyo, published on Huyada.
The sad thing is that Emanuel Poli and Hanna Karkenni—both university-educated—have reviewed the book. The last thing we need right now is for books like this to be published, as they make it easy for Turkish historians to use them as examples to deny the genocide.
