Turkey Has Long Lost the Battle on the Armenian Genocide Issue, Says Turkish Scholar

Turkey is not the country that has any trust in the eyes of the international community regarding the Armenian Genocide issue, according to Turkish political scientist, journalist, and professor at the University of Athens, Cengiz Aktar, in an interview with Ermenihaber.am.

When asked whether the recent application of the well-known thesis, which denies the Armenian Genocide and claims Armenians have perpetrated genocide against Turkish Muslims, can be viewed as a new phase of denial, particularly emphasized by Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on April 5, Aktar responded negatively.

He pointed out that such theses have merely been utilized successively over the years. Noting that the Turkish public holds similar beliefs, Aktar emphasized that nobody outside Turkey can truly believe in these claims since they lack historical basis.

“One should not forget an important aspect regarding Turkey’s denialism: Turkey is not the country that has any trust in the world, in the eyes of the international community, concerning the Armenian Genocide issue. This means that nobody in the world trusts it; no one shows goodwill towards Turkey's theses. From Turkey's perspective, this battle has long been lost,” the Turkish scholar remarked.

Commenting on the conference held on April 5 at one of Ankara's universities regarding the denial of the Armenian Genocide, where Minister Akar had spoken and reiterated this claim, Aktar noted: “They sit talking amongst themselves, applauding each other, saying ‘well done’. In such gatherings, there is hardly anyone who says something different; they all say the same thing.”