April 2025 commemorated the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, a racially motivated mass extermination of the Armenian people by the Ottoman Turkish government. Turkey to this day denies the genocide, writing it out of their history books.
The University of Utah enables genocide denialism by allowing leading genocide deniers to promulgate misinformation about the 1915 atrocity. The U must teach the Armenian Genocide as historical fact and distance itself from Turkish state narratives.
The Armenian Genocide
Genocide refers to the systematic extermination of a people to end their existence. The atrocities committed in 1915 resulted in the death of approximately 1.5 million Armenians.
The Young Turk faction came to power in the Ottoman Empire in 1913, intending to create a ‘Pan-Turkish’ state. This meant non-Turkish minorities, including and especially Armenians, had to be systematically exterminated.
First terminating Armenian intellectuals, artists and leaders, the Young Turks then conscripted, disarmed and murdered the remaining Armenian men. Surviving women and children were then marched to death, their bones left to rot in the desert and in some cases sold for profit.
Of the roughly 2 million Armenian Christians living in the Ottoman Empire, approximately 1.5 million were massacred The remaining survivors were forcibly Islamized or exiled. The rest of the world failed to unilaterally respond to the Armenian holocaust, leading to the possibility repeated genocide attempts.
Richard Markosian, founder and publisher of Utah-based magazine Utah Stories and a former U alum, is the great-grandson of Armenian Genocide refugees, including his great-grandmother. “She was the only survivor in Armenia,” Markosian said. “She watched her mom die on a death march… It’s bizarre to me that there’s anybody who would deny it.”
Without facing any significant backlash, Turkey continues to get away with murder by planting its state narrative in the annals of great American universities like the U. Armenian Genocide deniers create a shroud of doubt and uncertainty around the genocide. By alleging a simple bloody war or justified state repression, they shift the narrative from an ‘Armenian Genocide’ to an ‘Armenian question’.
The U’s history with Armenian Genocide denialism
Pure and unadulterated hatred is what motivated the Armenian Genocide. The U perpetuates this through questionable links with the Azerbaijani state. U political science professor Dr. Hakan Yavuz is often at the center of these controversies.
In 2023, Dr. Yavuz helped host a birthday party for Heydar Aliyev, father of the current Azerbaijani dictator. Days later, Azerbaijani state issued a press release on the event including comments from Yavuz that condemn Armenians. Faculty have since denied the authenticity of the quotes, but they still remain a part of official University communications.
Investigative journalist Paul Sookiasian attempted to clarify the situation with the U to no avail. “CivilNet reached out to the University of Utah to inquire as to why one of its professors allegedly issued false statements attributed to Utah faculty members… for an Azerbaijani government propaganda article,” Sookiasian wrote. “A source who is familiar with the matter has informed CivilNet that the University of Utah’s administration has advised at least one person involved not to comment.”
Dr. Yavuz has pivoted the output of the U’s Turkish Studies Center towards Armenian issues, often with the collaboration of noted genocide denier Michael Gunter. The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) funds the Turkish Studies Project at the U. The TCA is a promoter of Armenian Genocide denial.
Sookiasian explains in his investigation that the U has gained notoriety for its role in Armenian genocide denial among academics. “Dr. Yavuz has been… described by the late Professor Richard Hovannisian as having ‘become a major figure in the trade of contemporary efforts to deny that Armenians suffered genocide,’” Sookiasian wrote. “Armenian Genocide deniers… have had their manuscripts published by the University of Utah Press through the efforts of Dr. Yavuz.”
Why they deny
The state of Utah has a long history of good relations with Armenia. Utah and Armenia are geographically and climatically similar and attract a growing community of Armenian expatriates. Utah has independently recognized the Armenian Genocide by an act of congress. Thus, it’s a little hard to fathom Utah’s flagship university funding the very work of Armenian Genocide denialism. But that’s exactly what’s happening.
Markosian believes the U should take a stand by addressing the Armenian Genocide head-on. “I would hope the response from the U would be to make a statement [that] we believe and accept that the genocide did, in fact, occur…” Markosian said. “It seems like a lot of professors’ goal is not to just educate, but it is to indoctrinate… Their goal as a professor should be to teach facts and truth. I don’t know if that is so related to why that professor is able to write information about denialism… I would imagine that all professors are giving far more of their opinions in the curriculum than ever before.”
The blood of 1.5 million innocent Armenian Christians taints any money earned by Dr. Yavuz’s relationship to the TCA. Correcting these injustices is not a favor for Armenians at the U. It’s an extension of the University’s commitment to teaching truth and understanding multiple viewpoints.
Curriculum that reinforces skepticism of the events of the Armenian Genocide leads students away from historical truth. To end this academic atrocity, the U must rewrite this coursework and reevaluate relationships with staff like Dr. Hakan Yavuz. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” said historian George Santayana.
The U must stop erasing the Armenian Genocide. The U needs to repair its relationships with the Armenian community, erase falsehoods and teach the truth to all students.
https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2026/05/28/opinion-the-university-of-utah-has-betrayed-its-armenian-community/
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