The Armenian Genocide and its Aftermath

Abstract

This chapter reviews the history and historiography of the Armenian Genocide, and outlines the trajectory of Turkey’s narrative of the “Armenian question” since its initial formulation in the wake of the genocide. Over time, Turkey has experienced sustained international pressures to acknowledge the organized and intentional nature of this violence. Since the early 1990s, domestic contestation from within Turkish society has also challenged the legitimacy of the state’s narrative. While Turkish officials have resisted acknowledging the genocidal nature of this violence, elements of Turkey’s narrative have changed. Specifically, the narrative has changed three times since 1950, each time after international pressures had heightened scrutiny of the state’s position. Crucially, however, when and how officials responded to accumulated pressures were shaped by concerns about threats to territorial integrity and national identity, and feedback effects from institutionalized power bases within Turkey.