A Different Kind of Denial

In an article in The Armenian Weekly, Uzay Bulut describes the “four narratives” used regarding Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide. The first narrative—“We Did Not Slaughter Armenians; Armenians Slaughtered Us”—is seemingly the most perspicuous denial of the Armenian Genocide, clearly expressing a pervasive belief in Turkey that genocide was not committed against the Armenians and that the opposite occurred. While it is extremely disturbing to consider that this completely twisted version of events is being taught to Turkish children in schools, some of the other narratives are haunting as well.

Bulut describes that the truthful narrative—“Yes, Turkey Committed Genocide”—is sometimes tolerated; however, these occurrences are really just allowed in order for Turkey to convey a more democratic image to the West, and Bulut confirms that the Turkish government never truly acknowledges the reality of the Armenian Genocide. Instead, when the first false narrative is not used, other warped versions of history replace it. One—which Bulut names “Yes, We Did Slaughter Armenians. If They Do Not Behave, We Will Slaughter Them Again”—reveals the type of terrifying articulation that is only able to be expressed by people in power. This narrative allows a very dangerous power structure to survive, despite the reality (denied by Turkey) that the events that did occur against the Armenians in 1915, and perspectives like this one, attempting to justify those events and use intimidation to silence people seeking justice, are horrifying and unacceptable.

Finally, the other narrative, which Turkey often uses to provide an ostensibly less extreme storyline “for international observers,” Bulut describes—“A Tragedy Happened During World War I. Armenians Slaughtered Us, and We Slaughtered Them. It Was Civil War. Let’s Forget About It…”—is also disturbing. Further, the idea at the core of this narrative is one that is not unique to Turkey’s attempt to justify an abhorrent part of its history by encompassing the shameful truth in a supposedly less reprehensible lie. In fact, this specific kind of fabrication is reminiscent of examples we have examined in our own country— for instance, the KKK emphasizing being “pro-white” in an attempt to rebrand itself and downplay its racist reality (recall the Harrison, Arkansas billboard displaying the statement “anti-racist is a code word for anti-white”).

In the US, students are taught in school about slavery, the treatment of Native Americans, and some of the other shameful parts of American history. Yet, it is still easy for many Americans (even some who understand the problem with Turkey’s genocide denial) to accept just the basics of certain historical events in their own country as a complete truth and confirmation that all issues have been resolved—which is simply false—and to overlook the present oppression and injustice that has persisted beyond the landmark Supreme Court cases and civil rights movements mentioned in history books. Moreover, many of the people who are not forced to face any kind of systemic oppression never make the conscious decision to better understand it. These people sometimes even escalate ignorance, to preserve unwarranted pride, in attempts to justify, rather than effectively confront, their prejudices or indifference.

For Turkey, this concept has been exemplified in statements like that of former Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said on the centennial of the Armenian Genocide: “In World War I, which ranks among humanity’s major catastrophes, millions from all nations also perished within the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire. I commemorate with compassion and respect all the Ottoman citizens, regardless of their ethnic and religious identity, who lost their lives under similar conditions during this war,” completely deemphasizing the specific victimization and suffering of the Armenians by alluding to the idea that their experiences fall into the same category as their oppressors, when this deviates from the truth. And, though many Americans would like to believe that we, in contrast, are being given the whole truth, history has been distorted by the American government at times too. This has happened, whether in the refusal to officially refer to the events of 1915 as a “genocide” or the choice of words that deems hateful acts on a smaller scale than genocide permissible, by blaming both the attackers and the attacked together in one category— for example, President Trump’s 2017 initial condemnation of what he called “hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides,” after torch-bearing white supremacists marched through Charlottesville, Virginia, in a hateful protest that resulted in a clash with counter-protestors, one of whom was ultimately killed.

Statements that shift the blame away from those truly at fault are tremendously dangerous, not only recklessly denying the appalling realities of many people who have suffered but also strengthening and encouraging the ignorance that ignites hate crimes on many levels. Even if the US might have more complete history textbooks than Turkey, it is important to be cautious of propaganda in our own country as well as others— obviously pertaining to events as major as genocides, but also pertaining to smaller-scale events, in order to prevent alarming discriminatory acts to persist to the point where they may eventually become major events. Free speech is an important foundational right in the US; nevertheless, the First Amendment always runs the risk of free speech being used to spread discrimination, bigotry, and misinformation. While we cannot prevent people with prejudiced and hateful views from voicing their opinions, we must hold them morally and ethically accountable when they do spread those misguided and harmful beliefs even if they cannot be held legally accountable.

https://armenianweekly.com/2017/09/08/turkeys-genocide-denial-four-narratives/
http://www.mfa.gov.tr/message-sent-by-h_e_-mr_-recep-tayyip-erdogan_-president-of-the-republic-of-turkey_-to-the-religious-ceremony-held-in-the-arme.en.mfa
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/11/637665414/a-year-after-charlottesville-not-much-has-changed-for-trump
https://wjla.com/news/nation-world/charlottesville-violence-a-timeline-of-events