Encountering Turkish Denialism: From the Syrian conflict to the Second Karabakh War

In this article we examine how Armenian Genocide denialism is expressed and why it took place in urban areas and symbolic spaces during the Second Karabakh War. Denialism took the form of a ‘battle’ against Armenian heritage and Genocide-related memorials, from destruction to vandalism, from the heroization of old perpetrators of violence to direct violence against Turkish and diasporic Armenian communities. The denial of the Armenian Genocide penetrated the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Alongside Turkey, Azerbaijan also denies the Armenian Genocide and campaigns against its international recognition. The discussion will address the following questions: How was Turkish denialism symbolically reproduced in the Second Karabakh War narratives as an expression of a political strategy? How was denialism linked to the different urban settings and the transnational context? How was it transferred from the Syrian War to the Karabakh War in terms of symbols, actors and narratives?