What do Tom Barrack and Türkiye’s President Recep Erdoğan have in common?

More than you might think. Both have portrayed the Armenian Genocide, in which up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed, as something open to question rather than as a historical fact.

Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Türkiye and Special Presidential Envoy for Syria and Iraq, appeared to dismiss the Armenian Genocide during a briefing on July 11, 2025. Discussing relations among Türkiye, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, Barrack said:

“Türkiye with Armenia still suffers under the old impression of what Türkiye had done to Armenia, in genocide, but Azerbaijan and Türkiye and Armenia are the trading partner on that side as Syria is on this side.”

Barrack’s remarks echo those of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. After President Biden formally recognized the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2021, Erdoğan rejected the decision. Instead, he argued that “investigating historical events and revealing the truth should be left to experts and historians, not to politicians.”

Erdoğan was right about one thing: if we want answers about the Armenian Genocide, we should follow the evidence. And that evidence does not come only from historians. It also comes from archaeology.

At Tell Fekheriye, near Ras al-Ayn in Syria, archaeologists led by Professor Dominik Bonatz of Freie Universität Berlin inadvertently uncovered an early twentieth-century burial ground containing unmarked Armenian graves. A forensic investigation identified the remains of at least 80 individuals. Most burials contained between two and seven people. Among the dead were 42 adults, 28 juveniles, three infants, and one possible fetus. Women and children outnumbered adult men—the demographic profile expected among victims of the Armenian death marches.

How did these people perish? Forensic anthropologists identified only a single rib with what may have been a knife or bayonet wound. Apart from that injury, they found little skeletal evidence of injuries sustained around the time of death or of diseases that leave traces on bone. The absence of skeletal trauma suggests that many of the deceased died from starvation, thirst, and disease rather than direct acts of violence.

Did the graves contain many personal belongings? Very few. Among the items recovered were a finger ring, buttons, coins, fragments of textiles, and a semicircular metal object. The scarcity of personal belongings suggests that many deportees “were quite literally stripped of any items of value” before burial. The small number of buttons recovered from the graves suggests that many of the deceased were naked when they were buried.

The forensic anthropologists were puzzled by the relative scarcity of skulls and teeth among the human remains. Normally, these are among the best-preserved parts of the human skeleton. The burial ground was cultivated for decades, which may partially explain their scarcity. However, the forensic anthropologists concluded that agricultural activity alone could not fully account for the lack of cranial remains. Contemporary accounts of the Armenian Genocide describe the public display of severed Armenian heads, raising the possibility that this practice contributed to their relative absence at Tell Fekheriye.

By now, you may be wondering how archaeologists determined that the deceased were Armenian. The answer lies not in the skeletons themselves, but in the archaeological, historical, and oral historical evidence. The burials are dated to the early twentieth century by the coins recovered from the graves. The strongest evidence, however, comes from the location of the burial ground. Archaeologists concluded that it was the cemetery of the concentration camp at Ras al-Ayn, which they concluded was located at Tell Fekheriye between 1915 and 1916. They further suggested that while the cemetery occupied the western part of the tell, the camp itself was situated elsewhere on the site.

There is another indication that this cemetery contained Armenian victims. For decades, farmers cultivated this cemetery, damaging the graves in the process. Yet local residents of Ras al-Ayn recognized it as an Armenian burial ground. If some of the local residents knew this was an Armenian cemetery, why did they keep cultivating it? Perhaps the continued cultivation was a mark of contempt for the deceased.

Barrack’s perspective on Ottoman history is revealing. On June 29, 2025, Barrack praised the Ottoman millet system, citing Izmir—historically known as Smyrna—as an example of cultural and religious diversity. That halcyon narrative is difficult to maintain in light of two historical facts. First, it ignores or dismisses the Armenian Genocide (1915-1923). Second, it requires ignoring the 1922 pogrom carried out by Kemalist forces in Izmir, during which the city’s Armenian and Greek Christian communities were subjected to looting, massacres, and rape.

Barrack lamented that “Türkiye has never gotten the respect that it deserves as a major regional power.” Yet respect is earned, not bestowed. Modern Turkey, despite being a NATO member, has never acknowledged the Armenian Genocide, nor has it accepted responsibility for its actions in northern Cyprus.

Barrack’s remarks align with Erdoğan’s broader narrative about the Armenian Genocide. Erdoğan has repeatedly claimed that there are no Armenian mass graves, yet the archaeological evidence from Tell Fekheriye directly contradicts that assertion.

Erdoğan’s denial of the Armenian Genocide is not an isolated chapter in Turkish history. It forms part of a broader pattern in the treatment of Christian minorities. Ankara’s treatment of Armenian Christians was later echoed after Turkey’s 1974 invasion of Cyprus. Following the invasion, Turkey pursued a policy of colonization in northern Cyprus by resettling approximately 30,000 settlers from mainland Anatolia in homes and villages abandoned by displaced Greek Cypriots. Under Turkish administration, more than 500 churches and monasteries have been destroyed.

When the Israeli government submitted a proposal recognizing the Armenian Genocide, Erdoğan declared: “We pay absolutely no attention to the slanders against our country by this criminal network… Our history is free from genocide, massacres, oppression and colonialism.” Yet he has repeatedly called for the Jewish state to be “destroyed and devastated.” The victims of Tell Fekheriye cannot speak, but their graves speak volumes. Given Turkey’s record of denying the Armenian Genocide, occupying northern Cyprus, and threatening Israel, why should the United States provide Turkey with the world’s most advanced stealth strike fighter?