Atatürk University Turkish-Armenian Relations Research Center made a statement on the so-called Armenian Genocide, which is brought to the agenda every year on April 24.

Turkish-Armenian Relations Research Center Director Assoc. Dr. Mevlüt Yüksel, Deputy Director Assist. Prof. M. Tayfun Üstün, lecturer Fatih Korkmaz and many members of the press attended the commemoration of martyrs in the Yanıkdere Martyrdom, where there were 3 thousand martyrs who were brutally murdered by Armenian commissars in 1918.

Yüksel stated that the Armenian diaspora, the Armenian government, the Armenian public and the circles that support them are trying to set the agenda again with the so-called genocide allegations on April 24, just like every year. He also noted that these baseless claims will serve no other purpose than to distort history, try to cover up the facts and deceive humanity.

Yüksel said that April 24, 1915, was not the date when the so-called genocide targeting Armenians was carried out by the Ottoman Empire as claimed, but on the contrary, it was the date when a series of decisions were taken by the Ottoman Empire as a precaution against Armenian gangs who massacred tens of thousands of innocent and harmless Muslim-Turks. "The massacre of 10 thousand muslims showed that this measure did not work, and upon the enactment of the Dispatch and Settlement Law on May 27, 1915, the life and property security of the Armenian population of 600-700 thousand was maintained by the Ottoman Empire. They were dispatched to and settled in provinces in Syria-Aleppo, which was further away from the war." he said.

“The Turkish Nation Has Been a Gleam of Hope for Humanity in Every Period of History”

Addressing both foreign and domestic politicians who are trying to accuse Turkey of the so-called genocide, Yüksel said that if it is desired to take a real decision in the direction of genocide, "the genocide" was the massacres of Armenian terror between 1890-1909, 1909-1915- 1918-1922, 1973-1985, 1991-1992 or the atrocities committed by EOKA members of the Greeks against the Turkish Cypriots in 1974. He also made the following remarks: "There is neither genocide nor massacre in the honorable past of the Turks, who have been a gleam of hope for humanity all throughout the history. The Turkish nation, which carries the lights of civilization and never hesitates to face its bright and glorious history, will not take lessons from but give lessons to those who are the representatives of governments whose conscience is petrified, whose hands are contaminated with the blood of millions of people, and whose political records are corrupt. On the other hand, we would like to express that we strongly condemn those for their actions in an attempt to distort history, who brought and supported the proposal accusing Turkey and the Turks of the so-called genocide to the agenda under the roof of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.”

Rector Çomaklı: "Not mothers had no sons, women were widowed, children were orphaned, but they were all murdered"

Atatürk University rector Prof. Dr. Ömer Çomaklı noted that the massacres perpetrated by the Armenian gangs in the region were brought to the attention of the world public opinion through a series of mass grave excavations carried out between 1986-1990 and in 2010 by scientists from Atatürk University. Çomaklı also revealed the fact that the real victims of the genocide were the Muslims-Turks, as it is seen from a series of proven and documented events in this process, which started in the 1890s and has continued until today. Çomaklı, on the other hand, used the following statements in his assessment on the agenda: “As Atatürk University, we continue our work intensively in order to present the just cause of Erzurum, which is one of the places which suffered the inhumane brutality perpetrated by Armenians, to the world public opinion and to evaluate the events in the light of historical facts. In the light of these studies, it was seen that Hinchak and Dashnak Armenian gangs massacred hundreds of thousands of Muslim Turks in Alaca, Ilıca, Tepeköy, Börekli Village, Ezirmikli Osman Ağa and Mürsel Paşa Mansions in Erzurum center, Hacı Ahmet Ağa Inn, Yanıkdere, named after the massacres of Armenian gangs, in Dumlu, Soğucak, Tufanç, Yeşil Yayla Village, Hasankale, Timar, Köprüköy, Karaurgan, Sarıkamış, Kars, Derecik, Iğdır, and in Hakmehmet and Oba Villages, even in Nakhchivan and some parts of Azerbaijan."

“Our people were brutally killed with unimaginable methods”

Rector Çomaklı stated that approximately 519 thousand innocent Muslim-Turks were brutally martyred in Eastern Anatolia by Armenian gangs, 12 thousand of whom were in Erzurum, in line with the information provided by the archive documents. I wish God's mercy on our people who were brutally cut off from life, and I bow respectfully before their cherished memories. Today, I once again condemn those who take the lives of innocent people, and I strongly condemn those who complicate these events, which are the disgrace of history, instead of protecting the historical rights and interests of this country.”

CORPORATE COMMUNICATION DIRECTORATE – 26.04.2022