It is a well-known fact that media outlets not only serve the function of delivering news, but also play -among other aspects- a significant role in forming collective memory, constructing identity, and engaging in public diplomacy. In this context, it can be seen that Agos, one of the media organs of the Turkish Armenian community that publishes in two languages, had succeeded in establishing a communication channel between the Armenian community and the Turkish society in the early years of its publication history. This publishing approach, developed under the leadership of the founder and chief editor Hrant Dink, has undergone significant changes following Dink’s assassination. As AVİM has addressed in its previous articles, this change has manifested itself in the adoption of a harsher and more marginalizing tone within the framework of the “genocide” discourse.

An example of Agos’s changing editorial policy can be seen once again in its 1495th issue, published on 25 April 2025. It would have been natural for the readers to expect the issue published immediately after 24 April to cover the 1915 Relocation and Resettlement Law. However, Agos managed to surprise us once again by taking this topic much further. Beginning with the article titled “The Reckoning Waiting for 110 Years” (“110 Yıldır Bekleyen Yüzleşme”) on the front page, the discourse on genocide finds its place on almost every page of the newspaper. Another article titled “Պատասխանատուութեան կոչ՝ բոլոր ցեղասպանութիւններու համար” (“A Call for Responsibility for All Genocides”), which was only published in the Armenian language pages of the newspaper, contains one-sided historical interpretations and discriminatory, marginalizing expressions.

The key points highlighted in the article are summarized below:

• The first mass murder of the century continues to go unpunished to this day…
• …until now, Türkiye has not been held accountable for the crimes it committed before the global public.…
• Barbaric and uncivilized tribes like the Turks and the Kurds had persecuted the Armenians based on religious motives as well…
• To achieve this goal, an assimilation campaign was also carried out, and all non-Turkish Muslim groups were forcibly subjected to Turkification…
• We must concede that this inhumane plan had significant success…
• The Republic of Armenia, as a representative of a people subjected to genocide, is obligated to raise the highest voice against all genocides in the world.
• The demand for justice is directed at all of humanity, since each of us must bear the feeling of responsibility and awareness towards the many misdeeds of our time.

It should not be forgotten that “genocide” is a legal concept. The unlawful use of the term “genocide”, which is the greatest crime that can be committed against humanity, will not only damage the concept of historical justice but also lead to the unjust vilification of Turkish society.

It is well known that the media has the power to shape public perception and behavioral patterns. In the process of normalization between Türkiye and Armenia, it is clear that Agos’s editorial policy not only harms the normalization process but also damages intersocietal communication by continuously bringing up the unfounded claims that the newspaper advocates. It appears that Agos’s current editorial policies has turned the newspaper into a political venue by distancing it from the role it had played during the Dink era as an intersocietal communication channel.

As a result, Agos’s 1495th issue once again exposes the newspaper’s new editorial policy and ideological orientation. As one of the major publications of Turkish Armenian community, Agos regrettably puts forth a one-sided approach to historical events and uses discriminatory and marginalizing language, which damages the efforts towards intergovernmental normalization and intersocietal reconciliation.  

*Image: Agos