Mamdani Angers Turks After Acknowledging Armenian Genocide

by Kosta Papadopoulos

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani drew both criticism and praise after attending a Greek Orthodox service in New York and posting “Ζήτω η Ελλάδα” while simultaneously facing backlash over his remarks describing the 1915 events involving Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

Turkish and Turkish-American communities staged protests in Times Square and outside New York City Hall, condemning the mayor’s statements on the Armenian issue. Demonstrators carried Turkish and US flags and banners accusing Mamdani of promoting a one-sided historical narrative.

At the same time, Mamdani publicly marked Greek Independence commemorations by attending a Greek Orthodox liturgy in New York. He said he was “grateful to stand in solidarity with the Greek Orthodox community,” reflected on the journey from Athens to Astoria, and described freedom as the ability to live without fear and shape one’s future. He ended his message with the phrase “Ζήτω η Ελλάδα,” which was warmly received by parts of the Greek-American community.

His earlier post on the Armenian issue stated that 1.5 million Armenians were killed in 1915 and linked those events to more recent developments in Nagorno-Karabakh. The comments triggered strong objections from Turkish-American organisations, who argued the mayor misrepresented history and inflamed tensions.

The Turkish-American groups said Mamdani’s remarks ignored historical context and risked deepening divisions among diaspora communities in the United States. They also criticised what they described as politically motivated interpretations of the Ottoman period.

Turkey maintains its position that the 1915 events should not be classified as genocide, describing them instead as a shared wartime tragedy in which both Armenian and Muslim populations suffered heavy losses. Ankara continues to call for a joint historical commission to examine the period with international experts.

The contrasting reactions to Mamdani’s Greek Orthodox appearance and his Armenia-related comments highlighted the sensitivity of historical memory and its influence on contemporary diaspora politics in New York.

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