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

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.

KEYWORDS:

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

Acknowledgements

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.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Available at: https://www5.tbmm.gov.tr/develop/owa/tutanak_dergisi_pdfler.meclis_donemleri?v_meclisdonem=

2. Cumhuriyet Senatosu, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 4, Sitting 74 (29.04.1965), p. 847.

3. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 17, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 78 (18.03.1987), p. 605.

4. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 18, Legislative Year 2, Sitting 54 (12.01.1989), p. 167.

5. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 21, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 29 (12.12.2000), p. 69.

6. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 22, Legislative Year 5, Sitting 8 (17.10.2006), p. 181.

7. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 20, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 96 (02.06.1998), p. 211.

8. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 26, Legislative Year 1, Sitting 96 (01.06.2016), p. 317.

9. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 21, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 24 (05.12.2000), p. 112.

10. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 20, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 96 (02.06.1998), p. 214.

11. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 22, Legislative Year 5, Sitting 5 (10.10.2006), p. 322.

12. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 17, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 79 (19.03.1987), p. 640.

13. Cumhuriyet Senatosu, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 12, Sitting 52 (05.04.1973), p. 557.

14. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 23, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 31 (19.12.2008), p. 664.

15. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 24, Legislative Year 5, Sitting 79 (18.03.2015), p. 200.

16. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 24, Legislative Year 2, Sitting 45 (22.12.2011), p. 34.

17. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 26, Legislative Year 1, Sitting 97 (02.06.2016), p. 409.

18. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 17, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 90 (15.04.1987), p. 203.

19. Cumhuriyet Senatosu, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 12, Sitting 28 (06.02.1973), p. 203.

20. Cumhuriyet Senatosu, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 6, Sitting 26 (01.02.1967), p. 350.

21. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 17, Legislative Year 2, Sitting 108 (06.06.1985), p. 356.

22. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 21, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 24 (05.12.2000), p. 94.

23. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 18, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 110 (08.05.1990), p. 350.

24. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 23, Legislative Year 2, Sitting 32 (07.12.2007), p. 393.

25. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 22, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 83 (13.04.2005), p. 40.

26. Cumhuriyet Senatosu, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 4, Sitting 26 (01.02.1967), p. 350.

27. Cumhuriyet Senatosu, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 2, Sitting 83 (12.05.1965), p. 665.

28. Cumhuriyet Senatosu, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 4, Sitting 79 (08.05.1965), p. 261.

29. Cumhuriyet Senatosu, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 6, Sitting 28 (03.02.1967), p. 622.

30. Cumhuriyet Senatosu, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 12, Sitting 28 (06.02.1973), p. 203.

31. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 22, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 101 (24.05.2005), p. 208.

32. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 22, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 14 (28.10.2005), p. 61.

33. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 22, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 36 (19.12.2005), p. 668.

34. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 24, Legislative Year 2, Sitting 113 (30.05.2012), p. 319.

35. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 26, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 87 (18.04.2018), p. 725.

36. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 24, Legislative Year 2, Sitting 45 (22.12.2011), p. 71.

37. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 23, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 35 (23.12.2008), p. 48.

38. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 26, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 91 (24.04.2018), p. 57.

39. Cumhuriyet Senatosu, Tutanak Dergisi Term 4, Sitting 92 (21.04.1965), p. 204.

40. Cumhuriyet Senatosu, Tutanak Dergisi Term 4, Sitting 92 (21.04.1965), p. 231–232.

41. Cumhuriyet Senatosu, Tutanak Dergisi Term 4, Sitting 92 (21.04.1965), p. 232.

42. Cumhuriyet Senatosu, Tutanak Dergisi Term 5, Sitting 70 (12.05.1970), p. 363.

43. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 21, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 24 (05.12.2000), p. 112.

44. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 20, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 96 (02.06.1998), p. 210.

45. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 22, Year 1, Sitting 69 (22.04.2003), p. 400.

46. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 22, Legislative Year 5, Sitting 86 (10.04.2007), p. 30.

47. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 17, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 78 (18.03.1987), p. 597–598.

48. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 24, Legislative Year 2, Sitting 32 (09.12.2011), p. 129.

49. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 20, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 96 (02.06.1998), p. 212.

50. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 20, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 102 (16.06.1998), p. 435.

51. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 21, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 28 (11.12.2000), p. 38.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian [254570].

Notes on contributors

Türkay Salim Nefes

Salim Türkay Nefes is a Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Goods and Policies (IPP) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). His main research interest is on ethno-religious hostility and conspiracy theories. He published on various journals including The British Journal of Sociology, Rationality and Society and The Sociological Review. His academic outputs can be freely accessed in https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tuerkay_Nefes

Doğan Gürpınar

Doğan Gürpınar is an associate professor at the Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ). He is a historian specialized in the late Ottoman and contemporary Turkish historiography, thought, and ideas. He is interested in ideologies and mental structures prevailing in Turkey probing them in a continuum in modern Turkey. He published three books in English: Ottoman Imperial Diplomacy (I.B. Tauris, 2014) and Ottoman/Turkish Visions of the Nation, 1860–1950 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), Conspiracy Theories in Turkey (Routledge, 2019).

Özgür Kaymak

Özgür Kaymak completed her Ph.D. with her dissertation titled “The Socio-Spatial Construction of Istanbul’s Rum, Jewish and Armenian Communities”. She published in the fields of ethnic and religious minorities, identity construction of social groups, state-minority relations, women’s studies and gender, including two books, book chapters and journal articles, as well as opinion pieces.