The Turkish Historical Society (TTK) compiles data, articles and other works on the alleged genocide of the Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I to stave off claims by Armenia in a long-standing dispute between the two countries.
Armenia claims up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in an act of genocide by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 during World War I. Turkey accepts the mass deaths of Armenians during their forced deportation during the war, but claims the death toll was much lower and attributes mass deaths to diseases and isolated cases of attacks.
Ankara has also urged Armenia to let historians handle the matter, though Armenia demands recognition of the incidents as "genocide" in order to advance relations between the two neighboring countries.
TTK started compiling all articles on the issue written in Turkey and throughout the world to publish books on the genocide claims. Books will be sent to libraries across the country as well as international historians. Speaking to Habertürk daily, TTK President Refik Turan said articles included indisputable scientific facts. "We never set out to collect articles with claims that may be disputed. The facts in the books we will prepare may contain information that may displease an Armenian defending genocide claims, but at least they would ascertain that this is the truth based on facts. We have the upper hand to counter the allegations as we have enough documents and data to back Turkey's claims," he said.
In April 2014, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was prime minister at the time, offered condolences for the Armenian deaths that occurred in 1915 - a first for a Turkish leader as the country froze diplomatic relations with Armenia both over the genocide issue and Armenia's occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave also claimed by Turkey's close ally, Azerbaijan. The move was seen as a significant step toward a possible reconciliation. Separately, Turkey has called for a joint Armenian-Turkish research project into the events, making use of the archives in both countries, to establish the facts.
