Peace and Conflict Studies - Spring 2014

Peace and Conflict Studies Volume 21, Number 1 69 After a Century of Injustice: Moving Toward Turkish Recognition of the Armenian Genocide Ashley Kalagian Blunt Abstract Nearly one hundred years have passed since the Armenian genocide, which prefaced and in some ways encouraged the Holocaust – yet the Turkish government continues to deny the genocide and uses political manipulation to prevent its recognition by others. The denial’s history has been one of collaborative repression, but in recent years Turkish voices have joined with Armenians’ in the struggle for recognition; collaborative struggle, particularly in recognition of shared history, may represent the best chance to pressure Turkey to federally recognize the genocide. This paper explores the machinations of the denial and its significance in the twenty-first century, as well as the consequences of the Armenian genocide for its victims and their descendants. As a global perspective drawn from Armenian diaspora studies demonstrates, the genocide remains a significant part of a global consciousness of pan-Armenian identity. This identity remains trapped as a victim of the genocide, just as the denial entraps Turkish identity. Introduction “Denial of genocide strives to reshape history into order to demonize the victims and rehabilitate the perpetrators, and is – indeed – the final stage of genocide” (Lipstadt in Balakian, 2003, p. 383). If we take denial to be the final phase of genocide, this means the Armenian genocide has continued for nearly a century, as this final phase has been inherited and continued by successive generations of Turkish politicians, whose efforts have become more aggressive in recent decades. In turn, members of Armenian communities, in Armenia itself, where approximately 3 million Armenians live, and in the diaspora as well, the scattered international communities of as many as 8 million Armenians, have worked to counter Turkey’s efforts, lobbying governments and international organizations to officially recognize the genocide. Despite some success, the Turkish denial continues, and continues to Peace and Conflict Studies PCS (Spring 2014) 21(1), pp. 69-84 PCS Webpage: ttp://shss.nova.edu/pcs/