Erich Feigl

Erich Fiegl (1931-2007) Professor at University of [Vienna], historian, documentary film producer, author and outspoken intellectual was born in [Austria], [Vienna]. He began writing while still a student, but soon switched over to documentary film-making. This brought him into the world of the religions and cultures of the Middle and [Far East], as well as [Central Asia] and [America]. He created TV series such as "[Journey to the Early Christian World]", "[The Heritage of the Early Christian World]", "The Great Religions of the World", "Tele-gallery", and "Men and Myths". A number of films from these series have won national awards. Individual television specials such as "Musil of Arabia", or "On the Streams of Paradise" (about the religious communities of [Mesopotamia]), "Where the Turks Came From" and "Where the Turks Went" (about the origins and the fall of the Ottoman Empire), as well as the famous documentaries about Empress Zita ("[Die Kronzeugin]" and "[Kaiserin Zita]", first broadcast in 1986) repeatedly brought Professor Feigl close to the tragic events of 1915 and the history and context of the Armenian question. His work continued with documentary films like "Thousand and One Power" (the peoples of [Eastern Turkestan], [China], and their unique cultural heritage) "The Power of Water" (Turkey's South East [Anatolian] Project). With his holiness, the [Dalai Lama], he created films such as "Bardo" and "Rebirth", followed by "[Kanuni Sultan]", a documentary about [Suleyman the Magnificent].

His various documentaries have earned him worldwide fame and he was given the Austrian National Science and Arts medal and Vienna Golden Merit medal. Parallel to these works, his great biographies, "Kaiser Karl" and "Kaiserin Zita", as well as his books about "Musil of Arabia" and "Athos-Vorhölle zum Paradies" were all tied to the study of Ottoman history - especially its final phase. A plan gradually took shape for a monograph on the origins and the history of the Armenian question in Anatolia from the eyes of a man with profound knowledge of Anatolia and its Middle Eastern environment. Professor Feigl was already familiar with all the settings and had known many, many witnesses (from both camps) for decades.

The preparatory work was already well underway when a shocking event (the murder in [Vienna] on June 20, 1984 of the Turkish labor attaché, [Erdogan Özen], who was a personal friend of the author) led Erich Feigl to produce an extensive film expose of this "myth of terror", which had already claimed so many innocent lives. After more than a year's work on the films, Professor Feigl wrote his book "A Myth of Terror," (available in German, English, French) which exposes the roots and strategic aim of [Armenian terrorism]. After that, [ASALA] ceased terrorist activities, recognizing that the word "terrorist" had become a synonym for "Armenian". Apparently, the task to terrorize was delegated to the [PKK], an originally [Syrian]-backed terror organization which pretends to represent more than just its dwindling group of active terrorists. In 1996, the book "[Die Kurden]" was published, (Universitas, [Munich]) ever since considered standard reference material on the matter. It describes not only the history, but also the problems of the Kurdish tribes, including the [PKK] issue. The result: the PKK halted terrorist activities in Germany, recognizing (as the Armenian leaders had done before) that the word "Kurd" had become synonymous with "terrorist". One of his last books, "A Myth of Terror," aimed to present a true picture of the origin anti-Turkish conspiracies, myth of Armenian genocide and the roots of Armenian terror and intimidation campaigns.