Understanding How a Century of Erasure, Propaganda, and Deflection Still Shapes the Present
The Armenian Genocide of 1915–1923 was one of the most well-documented atrocities of the 20th century. Over 1.5 million Armenians were systematically exterminated by the Ottoman Empire. Yet more than a century later, the Armenian Genocide is still denied by the government of Turkey and its allies, with efforts that are not only persistent but deeply strategic.
Genocide denial is not a passive act. It is a deliberate, evolving process—one that seeks to erase history, shift blame, obscure intent, and ultimately deflect responsibility. At the Armenian Genocide Museum of Canada, we’ve identified this pattern as a 4-stage cycle of denial, illustrated in the chart above. This cycle reveals the ways denial sustains itself over time, mutating across generations, institutions, and geopolitical borders.
Let’s break it down.
“Denial is the final stage of genocide.”
— Gregory Stanton, founder of Genocide WatchThis powerful statement underscores how denial is not merely a postscript to atrocity—it is part of the crime itself, designed to erase memory, silence victims, and prevent justice.
1. Denial of Fact
“Minimizing, disputing, or erasing the historical reality.”
The first stage is the most basic and the most blatant. It involves an outright rejection that the Armenian Genocide took place. This includes claims that Armenians died of disease or starvation during wartime chaos, or that the death toll was exaggerated.
This stage often leans heavily on revisionist historians, state-sponsored disinformation, and the absence of formal legal rulings due to the Genocide pre-dating the UN Convention on Genocide. Deniers often argue that there was no official “intent to destroy,” thereby rejecting the genocide label entirely.
But the documentation speaks for itself. Eyewitness accounts, telegrams from Ottoman leaders, reports from diplomats, missionaries, and even confessions from Turkish officials leave little doubt about the intent behind the extermination campaign. Still, denial of fact remains the foundational layer of the cycle.
2. Blame the Victim
“Portraying Armenians as traitors or a threat.”
Once outright denial begins to wear thin, the narrative shifts to justifying the violence. This is often done by framing Armenians as a rebellious population that threatened the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
This stage is rooted in victim-blaming and the weaponization of fear. Deniers paint Armenians as conspirators with Russia or Western powers, portraying their extermination as an unfortunate but necessary wartime measure. In this narrative, Armenians are stripped of their innocence and rebranded as enemies of the state.
This toxic justification is still taught in many Turkish school curricula, where Armenian suffering is downplayed, and the word “genocide” is never mentioned. It’s also widely echoed in Azerbaijani propaganda, especially during times of conflict in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).
3. Justification & Obfuscation
“Framing it as war, manipulating data, or denying genocidal intent.”
As the denial becomes harder to maintain in the face of global scholarship and survivor testimony, it evolves into distortion. This is where the events of 1915 are reframed as a civil conflict or mutual wartime tragedy, rather than a one-sided campaign of extermination.
In this stage, language is manipulated: massacres are called “relocations,” genocide becomes “deportation policy,” and systemic killing is framed as “war casualties.” Numbers are fudged, and intentionality is blurred.
Official histories are rewritten, and pseudo-academic voices are elevated to challenge legitimate research. Influential deniers—such as Bernard Lewis and Justin McCarthy—have promoted these narratives, often with financial or institutional support from Turkish or Azerbaijani interests.
This stage is perhaps the most insidious because it masquerades as legitimate debate. It hides denialism behind academic credentials, creating confusion and moral ambiguity in international discourse.
4. Deflection
“Rejecting recognition, reparations, and accountability.”
The final stage is deflection—a strategy to avoid consequences, responsibility, or reparations. While the facts may be acknowledged in vague terms, this stage focuses on blocking recognition in foreign governments, lobbying against genocide resolutions, and silencing demands for justice.
In Turkey, denial is a cornerstone of national identity and foreign policy. Acknowledging the genocide would not only challenge the founding myths of the Turkish Republic, but could open the door to legal and financial accountability. As such, denial is defended not only through public policy but through international diplomacy, economic threats, and the criminalization of truth-telling (e.g., Turkey’s Article 301).
This stage is especially dangerous because it sustains the trauma. Survivors and their descendants are denied recognition. Reparations are withheld. And the historical crime remains, in effect, ongoing—because denial itself is a form of continued violence.
Why This Cycle Matters Today
The denial of the Armenian Genocide is not a historical footnote—it’s a living mechanism that enables future atrocities. As Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel once said, “Genocide kills twice—the second time through silence.”
This cycle of denial continues to inform Turkish and Azerbaijani policies, fuels anti-Armenian hate, and influences how history is taught and remembered. Until this cycle is broken—through recognition, education, and justice—the legacy of genocide persists not only in memory but in modern geopolitics.
Breaking the Cycle
At the Armenian Genocide Museum of Canada, our mission is to confront this cycle head-on:
- By preserving survivor testimonies and archival evidence
- By educating the public through accessible resources
- By calling out disinformation with factual, documented history
- And by honoring the memory of those lost through truth and resistance
Learn More & Stay Connected
This chart is part of a broader effort to raise awareness about the tactics of denial and the importance of remembrance. If you found this helpful, consider:
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Because denial is not just forgetting. It’s a strategy. And the best way to fight it is by remembering—with clarity, with courage, and with truth.
