Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun sent a video message to the panel titled "A Call to Truth: Historical Facts of 1915 Events" held at the Türkevi Centre in New York.
Describing the current period as the "post-truth period," Director of Communications Altun said, "Lies and disinformation replace the facts and the truth. Türkiye is one of the countries most exposed to the threats of this period."
Drawing attention to the fact that what happened during the Events of 1915 isolated the Turkish and Armenian relations from their historical context in a defamatory manner, evolving into a unilateral narrative that is becoming increasingly entrenched, Director of Communications Altun remarked, "Unbiased scientific approaches to the period in question have been replaced by unilateral, hasty and superficial decisions taken by world parliaments to serve their own domestic politics. Unfounded allegations regarding the Events of 1915 were constantly brought to the forefront by constantly manipulating the international public, both through terrorist activities against our country under the name of ASALA and through disinformation."
Director of Communications Altun stressed that Armenia's unfounded allegations regarding the Events of 1915 after a lengthy period of time also prevented the relations between Türkiye and Armenia from gaining a solid footing and that the attempt to describe and present the Events of 1915 as "so-called genocide" without any historical and legal justification was nothing more than a slander fueled by political calculations.
Recalling that both the European Court of Human Rights and the French Constitutional Court regarded the imposition of Armenian theses regarding the Events of 1915 through political initiatives as a violation of the freedom of expression, Director of Communications Altun continued his remarks as follows:
"Constantly bringing up unfounded allegations that are incompatible with the terms of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and that are contrary to international law is clearly intended to impede world politics and public opinion. As the Republic of Türkiye, despite all the massacres Turks and Muslims were subjected to, we have never denied the suffering in the context of the Events of 1915, nor have we ever built a hierarchy of suffering. Discussions about what happened in 1915 continue, even more than a century after the events."
Director of Communications Altun pointed out that the Armenian narrative adhered to the claim that Armenians were subjected to genocide, simplifying a complicated historical fact and ignoring vital evidence that could serve to clarify the events.
"The solution should be based on legal evidence and witnesses"
Director of Communications Altun said, "While historical events should be addressed and evaluated in the era in which they occurred, and their solution should be based on legal evidence and witnesses, manipulation and perception management are prevalent in politics, academia and the public. The Events of 1915 are handled unilaterally and used against Türkiye for political purposes."
Director of Communications Altun recalled that in order to achieve a “fair memory”, Türkiye provided numerous suggestions, including the establishment of a joint history commission, and said that despite their honest efforts, neither Armenia nor the Armenian diaspora responded positively to their requests.
Director of Communications Altun went on to say:
"In fact, we witnessed parliaments attempting to impose unilateral and unfounded allegations like 'genocide' on our country during this process. As Türkiye, we believe it is possible to arrive at the truth by discussing historical events based on concrete evidence, not speculations. We believe that it constitutes an important ground for the fair treatment of what occurred during the First World War, when all the nations of the Ottoman Empire suffered immensely, with a scientific approach, on the basis of international law and history. We underline that it would be beneficial for both parties to address the events of 1915 in a manner that is constructive and balanced and dialogue-oriented, devoid of ideological approaches based on unilateral acts of third countries. We believe this can be accomplished through the unbiased and objective examination of archive documents by specialists."
Emphasising that Türkiye was willing to do whatever it took to expose the truth, Altun underlined that Türkiye, which previously stated that the forced relocation policies implemented during wartime, including in 1915, had inhumane consequences, shared the suffering of the Armenians, and continued to express on several occasions its willingness to develop its relations with Armenia on the basis of good neighbourliness and mutual respect.
Director of Communications Altun stated that the most concrete manifestation of this strategy was President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's condolence message, dated April 23, 2014, which provided hints on how to act, particularly through dialogue, to overcome the hostility that had enslaved their relations.
"It is up to us to share the joys, the sorrows, and to shape the future by drawing the correct lessons from history," said the Director of Communications Altun and indicated that Türkiye would continue to fulfil its obligations in this field.
Director of Communications Altun said, "We will continue to explain and defend the truth for our country, region and humanity. We will continue to strive towards establishing an atmosphere of communication where the truth prevails."