Harun Yahya and Holocaust Revisionism

received the following email in response to the entry for the Science Research Foundation entry of the Creation/Evolution Organizations FAQ of this Archive:

I am writing to you from Istanbul, Turkey on behalf of Harun Yahya. I am a regular visitor of TalkOrigins.org and I saw your web page recently. I want to draw your attention to a mistake about Harun Yahya in your review of the SRF in Istanbul. Harun Yahya does not deny the reality of the Holocaust but denounces it. He has a very well known website visited and appreciated by many Jews and people of other faiths called islamdenouncesantisemitism.com. The real version of his book titled The Violence of the Holocaust is enclosed for your reference (Unfortunately it is in Turkish and has not been prepared in English yet). The book posted at http://www.noontidepress.com/catalog/0247.html has not been published and will not be published. I will be very pleased if you correct this information on your website and let us know.

That was the text of the email. I will not upload to the Archive the attached 968 kilobyte Word file. But I did find a document similar to it on the web: Soykirim Vahseti. Given just how serious a charge Holocaust denial is, this Archive should note the existence of a rebuttal, which is why the text of the above email is provided. This also forces me to review the evidence that Yahya has indeed denied the Holocaust.

There are two separate books being discussed. Soykirim Vahseti (The Violence of the Holocaust) is the one that the author of the rebuttal says is published. Soykirim Yalani (The Holocaust Hoax or Holocaust Deception) is the one which the rebuttal author claims is unpublished. The author of the email seems to believe that the publication status of Holocaust Deception: An Islamic History of the Nazi-Zionist Nexus should be considered to excuse the author from any responsibility for the content of the manuscript. Such a circumstance would not exculpate Yahya, and in fact, that circumstance is not true. Soykirim Yalani (Holocaust Deception) was published, was reviewed, and has been cited elsewhere, even by Yahya himself. What apparently has not been published is just the existing English translation of Yahya's book.

In the entry in question, I referred to a "past BAV page" having "listed a book called The Holocaust Hoax as being written by Harun Yahya." Recall that BAV is the acronym for the Scientific Research Foundation in the Turkish language. On February 1, 2001, http://www.harunyahya.com/yazarhakkinda.html had the following paragraph (emphasis is mine):

Yazarin Evrim Aldatmacasi (The Evolution Deceit), Kavimlerin Helaki (Perished Nations), Allah Akilla Bilinir (Allah Is Known Through Reason), Kuran Ahlaki (The Moral Values in the Quran), Kuran'da Temel Kavramlar (The Basic Concepts In The Quran), Soykirim Yalani (The Holocaust Hoax), Düsünen Insanlar Için (For Men of Understanding), Dünya Hayatinin Gerçegi (The Truth Of The Life Of This World), Derin Düsünmek (Deep Thinking), Sakin Anlamazliktan Gelmeyin (Never Plead Ignorance), Karinca Mucizesi (The Miracle In The Ant) adli kitaplari Ingilizce'ye, Karinca Mucizesi adli kitabi ayrica Urduca’ya, Ölüm- Kiyamet-Cehennem adli kitabi Lehçe’ye çevrilmis ve yurtdisinda çesitli yayinevleri tarafindan yayinlanmistir. Yazarin diger birçok eserinin Ingilizce, Rusça, Arnavutça, Lehçe, Bosnakça, Almanca, Ispanyolca ve Arapça'ya çevirileri devam etmektedir.

I must emphasize that the English titles were present in the original.

Prevent Genocide International has a page on Books in Turkish with the following entry:

Yahya, Hârun. Main Title: Soykirim yalani : Siyonist-Nazi i¸sbirliginin gizli tarihi ve "Yahudi Soykirimi" yalaninin içyüzü / Harun Yahya. Published/Created: Istanbul : Âlem, c1995. Description: 283 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 24 cm. ISBN: 9757856258 Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [257]-274) and indexes. Subjects: Zionism; Holocaust denial

Harun Yahya himself cites this book at:

• Ýsrail'in Kürt Kartý ( footnote 3, accessed December 3, 2003)
• Yeni Masonik Duzen (Notice the picture of George Washington on the book cover, accessed December 3, 2003)

And if this is not enough to convince someone that the book has been published, consider the United States Library of Congress has this book in its collections as any reader can confirm for himself using the Library of Congress online catalog. (Click on "Basic Search" and then copy and paste the phrase Soykirim Yalani and submit.)

Some information about this subject can be found in Cloning Creationism in Turkey by Taner Edis. It appeared on pages 30-35 of the November/December 1999 (volume 19, number 6) of the Reports of the National Center for Science Education. In it Dr. Edis wrote:

Another interesting difference from ICR [American creationist group Institute for Creation Research] emerges when BAV explains how a godless conspiracy established evolution. Much of what appears under the pseudonym Harun Yahya comes straight from Henry Morris [of the ICR], but it identifies the main forces behind evolution as Masons and Jews. This fits in with the all-too-common antisemitism among Islamists; indeed, Harun Yahya is also listed as the author of a book entitled The Holocaust Hoax, which borrows much from well-known American holocaust-deniers (Yahya nd). Bashing Masons may seem peculiar, but this is actually a common motif in Islamist tirades, where Freemasonry, as for many Christian conspiratologists in the past, serves as a symbol personifying the Enlightenment culture that helped to erode traditional religiosity. Usually the ancient enemies — the Jews, who refused to accept Muhammad as the final prophet — turn out to be behind Masonry, secularism, communism, and just about every godless evil.

...

Yahya H. Soykirim Yalani. Istanbul: Vural Yayincilik, nd.

Holocaust Deception appears in the catalog of Noontide Press, a press which publishes the works of Holocaust deniers. Its catalog entry for Holocaust Deception reads (accessed December 3, 2003):

The wildfire growth of scholarly revisionism in the Islamic world after influential French Muslim Roger Garaudy's 1998 conviction in Paris for Holocaust heresy has been some of the biggest and most heartening news for revisionists in recent years. Holocaust Deception is the first debunking of the WWII Jewish genocide myth to issue from the Islamic world, as well as a spirited, devastating critique of Zionism, from its origins over a century ago to its current worldwide intrigues. Author Harun Yahya, a Turkish journalist who has been jailed by his country's repressive, pro-Israel regime, writes from a Third World as well as a Muslim perspective. In Holocaust Deception Yahya places the Holocaust myth in the context of Zionist ideology and machinations, reviews and summarizes Western revisionist research from Rassinier to Leuchter, and explores how Zionists have used the false victim status conferred by the Holocaust to oppress not merely Arabs, Germans, Third World peoples, but Jews in Israel and around the world. A dynamic treatment that speaks not only to seasoned revisionists but to potential new constituencies for revisionism: Arab-Americans, Muslims, Afro-American nationalists, et al. With a foreword by Ted O'Keefe. ISBN 0-939482-60-6

The Journal of Historical Review which is the "journal" of the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review had a review of the book in its July/August 1997 issue called 'Holocaust Deception' Makes Waves in Turkey (accessed December 3, 2003). The first two paragraphs read:

A new revisionist book in Turkey has been receiving both warm praise and sharp criticism. Published in Istanbul, Soykirim Yalani ("Holocaust Deception") is the first book-length dissident study of the Holocaust issue to appear in the nation of some 64 million people.

The handsomely produced 285-page softcover work, subtitled "The Secret History of the Zionist-Nazi Collaboration and the True Story of the 'Jewish Holocaust'," is an attractively laid out volume, with numerous photographs, nine pages of source reference notes, an eight-page bibliography, and a good index. A second edition, with an English-language supplement, is scheduled for publication soon.

The review goes on to note how the book cited one of their articles in making its case. Exit the Whistleblower: My Fall from Grace at IHR by Ted O'Keefe (document dated June 19, 2002, accessed December 3, 2003) says that he "edited and made extensive factual corrections" to the English translation but that it has not yet been published.

The record is clear: Harun Yahya is indeed an author of yet another book in the sad history of Holocaust denial.

For further reading about creationism in Turkey see Islamic Scientific Creationism: A New Challenge in Turkey by Ümit Sayin and Aykut Kence. For information about the Holocaust please see The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Holocaust Teacher Resource Center. Information opposing Holocaust denial can be found at Holocaust Denial on Trial, The Holocaust History Project, and The Nizkor Project.

Finally I should note that while being involved with holocaust denial certainly strongly calls Harun Yahya's judgment into question it does not make his claims about evolution wrong. Most of the claims he and his organization make about evolution are refuted in the many articles of this Archive. It is those refutations and the positive evidence for evolution that should command the attention of those who trying to make up their minds about the validity of Yahya's evolution claims.

I am grateful to Dr. Wesley R. Elsberry for finding some references that I missed. Matt Young and Dr. Elsberry also provided proof reading and suggested revisions. As should be obvious, any errors should be considered to be my own.

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