Erdoğan says Turkey’s ‘history is free from genocide, massacres, oppression, and colonialism’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has condemned Israel for its recent steps towards officially recognising the Armenian Genocide, arguing the country’s ‘slander’ is an attempt to ‘cover up their barbarity in Gaza’. Erdoğan also falsely claimed Turkey’s ‘history is free from genocide, massacres, oppression, and colonialism’. Meanwhile, pro-government media in Azerbaijan has promoted a convoluted narrative to justify the country’s own condemnation of the Israeli moves, saying it stems from a desire to stand by Ankara rather than a direct rebuke of Israel.

The Israeli government unanimously passed a resolution to recognise the Armenian Genocide in June. While the bill still must be approved by the Israeli Parliament to constitute an official, country-wide recognition, it has provoked outrage in Turkey and a difficult reckoning in Azerbaijan, which is a close ally of Turkey and denies the genocide occurred, but also has a longstanding and wide-ranging relationship with Israel.

For its part, Armenia has had a lukewarm response to the Israeli bill, with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan saying he would refuse to comment on it, instead implying the effort constituted a ‘weaponision’ of the issue.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (left) with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (right) during the opening ceremony of the Iğdır–Nakhchivan gas pipeline. Official image.

Turkey distorts history while Azerbaijan struggles to maintain balance

In comments on Tuesday, Erdoğan said, ‘In our thousands of years of glorious history, there is only justice and compassion’.

‘There is the act of extending a hand to all the oppressed, regardless of their religion, origin or identity. There is the virtue of protecting those who fled the Inquisition and Nazi persecution’, he continued.

In his speech, Erdoğan grossly falsified the widely-documented history of large-scale massacres of Armenians from 1915-1923 by the Ottoman Empire, as well as Greeks, Assyrians, and other minorities, which many consider to be genocidal. Turkish persecution of its Kurdish population continues to this day. While tens of thousands of Jews did escape the Spanish Inquisition and settled in the Ottoman Empire, Turkey’s role in harbouring Jewish refugees during WWII has been significantly overstated by pro-government narratives, and the Jewish population in Turkey today numbers around just 14,000.

Moving away from pseudo-historical reasoning, an analytical piece published on Tuesday by the Turkish public broadcaster TRT argued ‘the 1915 recognition reads less like genuine historical reckoning and more like retaliation against the country leading calls for Israel’s accountability’.

‘It is a move designed to provoke Ankara rather than honour Armenians, observers say, weaponising a century-old tragedy to punish Turkey for its Gaza stance’, the piece continued.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) in 2018. Official photo.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has tread carefully in its rejection of the Israeli bill.

Shortly after the resolution was announced, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement of condemnation and urged the Israeli government to ‘reconsider this decision’.

On Tuesday, the prominent Azerbaijani pro-government media outlet APA published its own explanation of Baku’s position, arguing it was motivated by a desire to stand with Turkey.

‘Following the Israeli government’s decision, Azerbaijan became the only country to issue an official state statement openly expressing support for Turkey’, APA wrote, arguing ‘Azerbaijan’s position is another confirmation of the “one nation, two states” principle’, a phrase commonly used to describe the close ties between Baku and Ankara.

APA further argued that although ‘certain circles have attempted to portray Azerbaijan to the Turkish public as being “pro-Israel” without grounds [...] Azerbaijan’s immediate and open support for Turkey following the Israeli government’s decision clearly demonstrated that those claims were entirely unfounded’.

The article concluded by carefully criticising the Israeli resolution and saying ‘the best course of action would be for the Israeli leadership to review this issue once again’.

‘The Israeli government’s decision could negatively affect both Israel-Turkey relations and Israel’s strategic partnership with Azerbaijan’.