Armenian Genocide Denial - Terminology

Terminology

According to historians, while there is debate about its exact circumstances, "there can be no doubt about the fact of genocide itself. In this sense, the denial of the Armenian genocide is very similar to the denial of the Holocaust."

However, three historians specializing in Near Eastern Studies - Bernard Lewis, Justin McCarthy, and Heath Lowry, who are all members of the Institute of Turkish Studies, as well as the late Stanford Shaw from the Bilkent University, Ankara and independent scholars Guenter Lewy and Eberhard Jäckel are critical of the Armenian Genocide term. In 2004 the British historian Norman Stone wrote from Ankara to the Times Literary Supplement to deny "Armenian nationalist claims that a 'genocide' as classically defined had taken place".

The use of specific terminologies regarding the issue are debated, such as the word "deportation". Deniers claim that some of the specific words do not fit the realities of the period or they are not substantiated by the facts.