Turkish parliamentary debates about the international recognition of the Armenian genocide: development and variations in the official denialism

Türkay Salim Nefes*, Doğan Gürpınar, Özgür Kaymak

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The main source of animosity in modern Turkish–Armenian relations is the debate on the international recognition of the Armenian genocide. To provide an evidence-based and thorough perspective on the Turkish political stance in this discussion, this article explores all the relevant speeches in Turkish parliamentary records. It pays particular attention to political parties’ stances, the historical evolution of the debate, and the significance of the individual profiles of parliamentarians who contributed to the discussion. The findings show that most political parties in Turkey articulated versions of denial, except for a few marginal anti-denial voices. The study concludes that while political parties’ ideological orientations predominantly shape the Turkish debate on the international recognition of the Armenian genocide, historical contexts, local memories, and the individual backgrounds of parliamentarians seem to inspire minor variations in their tones.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)883-899
Number of pages17
JournalSoutheast European and Black Sea Studies
Volume23
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Funding

The work was supported by the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian [254570]. This research was made possible by a Gulbenkian Foundation research grant (ref: 254570). Dr Nefes also acknowledges his gratefulness for the Ramon y Cajal Research grant (ref: RYC2018-023919-I), which provided him to time to work on this study. Last, this article benefited greatly from the valuable comments of two anonymous reviewers. This research was made possible by a Gulbenkian Foundation research grant (ref: 254570). Dr Nefes also acknowledges his gratefulness for the Ramon y Cajal Research grant (ref: RYC2018-023919-I), which provided him to time to work on this study. Last, this article benefited greatly from the valuable comments of two anonymous reviewers.

FundersFunder number
Gulbenkian Foundation254570
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian

    Keywords

    • Denialism
    • Turkey
    • Turkish nationalism
    • parliament
    • the Armenian genocide

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