ANKARA (Realist English). Turkey’s reaction to the historic decision by the Israeli government to recognise the Armenian Genocide was as predictable as it was repugnant.
Instead of finally confronting its own history, Ankara opted for another dose of cynical rhetoric, accusing Israel of “political grandstanding.” The Turkish Foreign Ministry, commenting on the unanimous approval of the resolution, claimed that Israel was allegedly trying to “cover up its crimes” in Gaza.
This statement is nothing more than an attempt to evade responsibility for its own atrocities, which Turkey has stubbornly denied for over a century.
Turkish Hypocrisy: Denial as State Policy
Turkey, as the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, has for more than a hundred years conducted an organised campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide, during which approximately 1.5 million Armenians were annihilated in 1915–1918. Ankara continues to claim that the mass killings were not the result of a planned policy of extermination.
However, the crimes of the Ottoman Empire were not limited to Armenians. Turkey also stubbornly refuses to recognise the genocide of the Pontic Greeks, during which about 353,000 Greeks of Pontus were destroyed in 1916–1923.
Every year on May 19, when Greece commemorates the victims of the Pontic Greek Genocide, Ankara invariably dismisses these events, calling them “baseless” and “imaginary” accusations aimed at “blackening” Turkish history. The Turkish Foreign Ministry cynically blames the Greek army for “atrocities” in Anatolia.
Similarly, Turkey denies the genocide of Assyrians (Aramean Christians) and Chaldeans, committed in 1915. Whenever any parliament — whether in France, Sweden or Australia — adopts a resolution recognising the Assyrian genocide, Ankara immediately issues rebuttals, claiming that such resolutions “have no historical and legal basis.”
Today, this monstrous lie is supported by only a few countries, including Turkey itself, Pakistan and Azerbaijan. More than three dozen states, including the United States, France, Germany and Russia, as well as the Vatican and the European Parliament, have recognised the Armenian Genocide.
The European Parliament has repeatedly called on Turkey to recognise the genocide of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians. Israel, whose people survived the Holocaust, albeit belatedly, fulfilled its moral duty.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who initiated the resolution, rightly stated: “It’s never too late to do the right thing.” “As Jews, and especially as the nation-state of the Jewish people, we see it as our moral duty to adopt this resolution,” he emphasised.
Erdoğan and His Regime: Defenders of Executioners
Ankara’s reaction only confirms that Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has long become a hotbed of revanchism and aggression. Erdoğan, who has repeatedly compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Nazis, is himself the leader of a regime that systematically destroys the Kurdish population and tramples on human rights.
His statements about a “genocide in Gaza” sound particularly hypocritical against the backdrop of Turkey’s years-long denial of its own history of murders and deportations of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry in its statement also mentioned that Netanyahu and his “accomplices” are under an “arrest warrant,” but these accusations have no legal force and are merely another tool of Ankara’s propaganda.
Geopolitical Context: A Blow to Ottoman Ambitions
Israel’s decision to recognise the Armenian Genocide dealt a powerful blow to Erdoğan’s neo-Ottoman ambitions. Relations between the two countries, once strategic, reached an historic low after the events of October 7, 2023. Turkey halted all trade with Israel, and Erdoğan continues to accuse Israel of “expansionist and destabilising policies.”
However, the true reason for Ankara’s rage is obvious: by its decision, Israel reminded the world of the crimes that Turkey is desperately trying to bury under a thick layer of lies and propaganda. That is why Ankara calls the recognition “political,” attempting to discredit Israel’s morally impeccable step.
At the same time, Turkey continues to deny not only the Armenian Genocide, but also the genocide of Greeks, Assyrians and other Christian peoples destroyed by the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.
Turkey’s hypocritical reaction to Israel’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide only confirms that Ankara continues to live in the grip of its own imperial illusions. While Turkey denies historical truth and sponsors terrorist groups, Israel demonstrates a commitment to genuine moral values.
The Israeli government’s decision is not a “political move” but an act of historical justice that Ankara will never be able to challenge, no matter what propaganda tricks it employs.