The West’s illusions about Erdogan’s denialism was outrageous. The reaction to it was revealing

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently claimed that Turkish history contains "no genocide, no massacres, no oppression, and no colonialism," asserting only "justice and compassion." This statement, denying the Armenian Genocide and other historical atrocities, was met with minimal international reaction, even as Erdogan hosted world leaders at a NATO summit.

"no genocide, no massacres, no oppression, and no colonialism"

The article argues that this muted response reveals a selective application of historical accountability, where non-Western societies often receive less scrutiny than Western ones, partly due to academic and activist frameworks, and partly due to policymakers' long-held belief that Turkey is too strategically important to alienate. The author details numerous historical events that contradict Erdogan's claims, including the Ottoman Empire's devshirme system, the Hamidian massacres, the Armenian Genocide, the 1974 invasion of Cyprus, and the 2018 operation in Afrin, Syria, which involved displacement and alleged demographic engineering. The article concludes that the true scandal is not Erdogan's denial, but the international community's widespread failure to challenge it meaningfully, exposing a double standard in historical accountability.