Gьndьz Aktan, a former Turkish ambassador in Athens, the United Nations (Geneva) and Tokyo, and presently a foreign affairs columnist with a daily paper, is also a researcher now focussing predominantly on the relationship between history, culture, and politics.

Tьrkkaya Ataцv, Professor of International Relations, is the author of many works, including 77 booklets (in foreign languages) specifically on Armenian-Turkish relations, in addition to articles in foreign press on the same topic. Translated into about twenty languages, he is the recipient of several academic or governmental awards, and serves on the central executive committees of five international organisations (or groups) affiliated with the United Nations. Hьseyin Зelik, a former Associate Professor of Turkish Literature at the Yьzьncь Yil (Centennial) University in Van, is a deputy from the same eastern Anatolian province, and is also the author of works on relations with the Armenians, foremost among them being his doctoral dissertation, and later a published monograph on the massacre inflicted on Turks before the Ottoman decision in 1915 to resettle Armenians in the southern parts of the land. Nejat Gцyьnз, Professor of History at Selзuk University also served at the Universities of Istanbul, Hacettepe, Bogaziзi, Inцnь and Uludag. He published three books, one being on the Armenian public functionaries of the Ottoman Empire. He also served as the editor of a periodical on Ottoman research (The Journal of Ottoman Studies, Istanbul, since 1980). Yusuf Halaзoglu, Professor of History at Marmara University, and presently the Director of the Turkish Historical Society, published various works utilizing first-hand archive material on the demographic realities of Anatolia. In his latter capacity, he is the publisher of the quarterly Belleten, a Turkish academic journal of long standing. His latest (2001) book (Ermeni Tehciri ve Gerзekler: 1914-1918) is a detailed scholarly work especially on the relocation of the Armenians in 1915.

Цmer Izgi, a deputy from the Konya province, is the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Formerly, he was one of the Vice-Chairmen of his political party. Trained as a lawyer, he served as the legal expert at the Prime Minister's Office and was a practicing barrister. After earning a graduate degree in law, he co-authored the printed version of a collection of selected legal texts.

Enver Konukзu, Professor of History at Atatьrk University, is the leading scholar who, on the bases of documentary evidence as well as eyewitness accounts and in the presence of witnesses, unearthed in Erzurum, Igdir, Kars and Van the mass-graves, in which murdered Muslims, predominantly Turks, were buried before and after the year 1915. He is also the author of a book on Erzincan `in the grip of the great powers and the Armenians'.

Justin McCarthy, Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences at the University of Louisville, is a historian and demographer who has written extensively on the people of the Balkans and the Middle East. Fluent in Turkish as well, his recent works include Muslims and Minorities, Death and Exile, and The Ottoman Peoples and the End of Empire.

Ilber Ortayli, Professor of Political Science at the Universities of Ankara and Galatasaray, and known for his analyses of historical issues, is generally acknowledged as a specialist on Ottoman and Turkish history, for which he received several awards. His specific interest is the last two centuries. His published books include scholarly works on Turkey's administrative history, Ottoman local government, German influence during the Abdьlhamid era, and the last millennium of the Ottoman Empire.

Sьleyman Seyfi Цgьn, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Uludag in Bursa, emphasises the relationship of comparative social theory and history. Analyzing the impact of political scientists on the history of Turkish thinking, he generally concentrates on questions of political culture. Recently, he studied the perception of nationalism in Turkish thinking as distinct from those of the Western societies.

Yilmaz Цztuna, a former parliamentarian, is acknowledged for his numerous compendiums on Turkish and Ottoman history. He also served as editor of several general reference works, including an encyclopaedia on Turkey and was decorated for such scholarly endeavours. Among his many published works, Osmanli Tarihi (Ottoman History, vols. 1-14) and Devletler ve Hanedanlar (States and Dynasties, vols. 1-5) should be especially emphasised. Stanford J. Shaw, now Professor Emeritus of Turkish history at the University of California, Los Angeles, also previously taught at Harvard University and was the editor of International Journal of Middle East Studies. As a pioneer among Western scholars in the use of the Ottoman archives, he published several academic works, including The History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey (vol. 2 with E. K. Shaw). His latest (2001): From Empire to Republic: the Turkish War of Liberation, 1918-1923, vols.1-5.

Цmer Turan, now an Associate Professor of History at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, had pursued graduate studies in Belgium. The traces of his recent research on the Armenians at the Lausanne Conference, done in the governmental archives in London, may be seen in his contribution to this volume.