Book Presented as Serious, Scholarly cablegatesearch.netCable reference id: #05ANKARA1275 ¶5. (U) Bagger averred that the regional government of Bavaria owns the rights to Mein Kampf, and does not authorize its publication. "We don't want it published anywhere," he said. The German Government maintains that virtually all new publications of the book are illegal. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the book is published in a number of countries, and that it has historical significance. But he said the versions now flying off the shelves in Turkey are different from ones he has seen in university bookstores in the U.S. and other countries. The Turkish editions lack an appropriate introduction to put Mein Kampf in context. The back cover of one edition promotes the book as a work that "changed the world" and "influenced the masses." The book is presented in Turkey as a serious, scholarly work of nationalist philosophy and ideology, an approach Bagger considers dangerous and irresponsible. "These are nothing more than the ramblings of a sick mind," he said. "The book is virtually unreadable, and downright boring most of the way through."
