Turkey to allocate $400 million for Genocide denial propaganda

Turkey to allocate $400 million for Genocide denial propaganda

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish government will allocate $400 million to the Armenian Genocide denial propaganda, with $150 million to be paid to the U.S. lobby, the head of information programs at Turkish International Media TV (IMC) said.

At the Yerevan-hosted April 23 discussions on Genocide, Aris Nalci hailed increasing readiness of Turkish society to discuss and accept the dark pages of its history. As he further noted, the number of Turkish cities hosting the April 24 commemoration events grows with every year, with the issue of return of Armenian property raised in some of them. Politicians and universities keep boosting the Genocide awareness with students showing interest in the subject, he said.

However, along with positive tendencies, the Genocide-related stance of the country's leadership remains unchanged, with a number of events, pushing denialist agenda, planned, Armenia Today quoted Nalci as saying.

Turkish ex-parliamentarian, politician and public figure Mehmet Ufuk Uras, in turn, called Ankara to come to terms with its history, normalize ties with Armenia and compensate the property of the Genocide victims to their descendants.

As the ex-MP noted, the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and Forgive Us, Armenians campaign triggered a new perception of the Armenian Genocide among the new generation in Turkey.

“We’re not going to turn a blind eye to the harsh reality. Upon our return to Ankara, we’ll announce the results of round table discussions in Yerevan,” Armenia Today quoted Uras as saying.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.

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