3. The Armenian Genocide, 1915 Forgetting the past?

4. VictimsPerpetratorsBystanders Forgetting/processing Forgetting Talking/no talkingAdmitting guilt/denying guilt Denying (responsibility) Guilt Commemorating

5. The official position of the Turkish government There has been no genocide in 1915. There was a war and there were many casualties on both sides due to armed struggle, hunger and disease. Individuals (may) have committed crimes against Armenians, but not on government initiative. The term genocide is never used. The question is consistently referred to as the ‘so-called genocide’, ‘the Armenian question’ or ‘the Armenian accusations’. People who do use that term in Turkey run the risk of being put on trial because it is an offence to insult 'Turkishness' (art. 301 of the constitution). Turkey would like to conduct an independent investigation together with Armenia to establish what really happened.

6. Armenia and the genocide Every year Armenia commemorates the genocide on 24 April in Yerevan. The official commemorative monument in Yerevan was revealed in 1967 on the Tsitsernakaberd hill. Across the world there are commemorative monuments in memory of the genocide. Armenia rejects Turkey's proposal to conduct a joint historical investigation.

7. The rest of the world and the Armenian genocide Many countries and organizations acknowledge the Armenian genocide as an official genocide, e.g. the EU and Russia. In France it is an offence to deny the Armenian genocide. The US president has never used the term ‘genocide’ for the killing of the Armenians.

8. Why does Turkey deny? It's not easy to admit a crime and take responsibility for it. Possible damages. Highly placed officials in the Turkish government after WW1 were involved in genocide. The genocide was committed by the co-founders of the modern Turkey. Acknowledgment of genocide erodes the basis of the Turkish state.

9. Why does Armenia not want to conduct joint research? Armenia believes there are enough historical facts which prove the genocide (compare with the Holocaust).

10. Role of the rest of the world Position can be partly explained by the relation a country maintains with Turkey or ties with Armenia or Armenian inhabitants in a country. For example, Turkey is an important NATO ally of the US in the Middle East; traditionally, there have been many Armenians in France.

12. Lesson 2 The Turkish government and the Armenian ‘question’

13. Epilogue Arshil Gorky, The artist and his mother