Introduction
The state of Armenia has openly and systematically used the incidents of World War I against the Turkish state for attack propaganda now for more than a hundred years. With the Second World War, Nazi Germany and the genocide of Jews was taken as a model and a parable to undermine Turkey's reputation and motivate Turkey to pay compensation. The intention of these attacks is to build global pressure on Turkey by spreading unsustainable lies and implementing them through black propaganda methodologies. In the analysis, an attempt has been made to show how black propaganda methods are used to present a matter that is not based on historical sources and research, and how it is systematically spread, as in the case of the events of 1915. Furthermore, solutions are presented to adequately respond to these untenable propaganda attacks on Turkey.
Propaganda
Propaganda has been used throughout the ages by those who seek and hold power to mobilize the masses. In ancient Greece, the speech dialectic as we know it, Socrates, Demosthenes, in ancient Rome, Cicero, in classical China, Sun Zi, and in classical Veedic literature, Kantulya-Arthashastra (the Rebellion of Vishnu) can be cited as examples. [1]. The history of propaganda is as old as the history of wars. Be it the building of the pyramids by the pharaohs, be it the speech of Sun Zi to the Chinese armies, or the philosophy of Bhudda, which crossed the borders of India, the speeches of Demosthenes, because of which the Macedonian king slid into war. But also the image of Julius Caesar on the coins of that time, or through the architecture like Louis the 14th, Napoleon Bonaparte or Hitler; the goal was always to legitimize the power and to occroy the will of rulers on the masses, are examples of propaganda, which found their place in the history of mankind. [2]. In every age, the masses were tried to "convince" in various matters. This need was applied to the possibilities with adaptations to this day in this form. Propaganda is the art of convincing masses. In terms of type, propaganda is divided into three different areas. White propaganda, gray propaganda and black propaganda. Between these methods, the black propaganda was tried to explain here argumentatively.
Black Propaganda
The origins are hidden. Even if sources are mentioned, there are always other reference sources. It is the intention by lie, intrigue, underhandedness, slander, disturbance to discredit the opposite side. To change the world view to the individuals and to deceive the public. Everything can be used for the black propaganda that helps to achieve a goal. If the origin were recognizable, it could not achieve its goal, but would only lead to the development of hostile feelings, and would be counterproductive. For this reason, the origin [of propaganda] is projected onto the target mass. To distort the truth, to create confusion and to revise the beliefs is the intention. With all mechanisms the enemy is worked on [4]. There are several ways to initiate black propaganda.
Methods of Black Propaganda
The most effective black propaganda is that which focuses on only one enemy. One's own expectation and enmity towards the enemy, and competition to achieve a certain goal, is the oldest, but still the most effective mechanism. The propagandist, uses pro or contra key words for his counterpart. In particular, towards his "antithesis" to influence the subconscious of the masses in such a way that negative feelings towards the "antithesis" arise. In the western states today, the chaos that has arisen in Islamic states is used to create "Terror and Terrorism" a label that is declared as "Islamic Terror" and "Islamophobia". In order to label the other side as Terrorist, we are confronted with this naming again and again. The explanation is not always negatively stressed in the meaning, nevertheless empirically a common result. "We and us" should be given confidence namely in the form of positive stereotypes. "Father State" as a format is an example of this. The initiators of propaganda always use the mass communication media to spread it as quickly as possible. Black propaganda is brought to the masses in the shortest possible time through print media, publishing houses and new media.
Use of black propaganda in the context of the 1915 incidents.
The organizers of propaganda must be able to "read" the target group sociologically well. They must know the beliefs of the masses, their customs and values. Within the framework of the above-mentioned goals of propaganda, Armenia has found a ready-made field in Europe and in the USA. The slogan was the ecumenism of Christianity of Serbs, Greeks and Bulgarians; this was the way these peoples fought for the unity of Christianity- so the Propaganda. The Armenian Diaspora has been able to find a fertile field for its propaganda in Europe and the USA. The actions of the Armenians who were active in the Ottoman Empire and the institutions/organizations in which they were active, if their propaganda actions are included, had positive results for the Armenian side. The black propaganda was labeld as: Genocide. Worldwide, the lobbyists and the diaspora activities of institutions and individuals are using the events of 1915 to install a propaganda framework around the term "genocide". As an important argument, the slogan "genocide" was made and used perpetually by the Armenians. To explain why this terminology is used and why it is considered a part of the black propaganda, it will be explained here. Genocide is a legal term used at various times for political purposes. [According to Schabas, the term was coined in the 1948s. [7] In order for it to be used in a legal dispute, it would have to be confirmed by a court of law or a regional court. However, since no legal legitimacy exists, this is to be declared as a unique Armenian propaganda tool. For this reason, the conclusion can be drawn that this is a policy of propaganda aimed exclusively at strengthening Armenian political ambitions, and through this, to impose restrictions on the Turkish state so that the Armenian state can claim damages.
Repetition and Creation of A United Front
The most important techniques of black propaganda is to create and reproduce a common front. The black propaganda of Armenia has managed to create a common front, and to repeat it for 100 years now. The absolute goal of propaganda is to "convince". For this reason, the propaganda is repeated again and again by the initiators of the propaganda. In this connection at different times and ranges on the part of the Armenians the black propaganda is perpetually exploited. This is to be underpinned here with various examples. A famous name of propaganda, the NAZI Propanda Minister Goebbels stressed to describe the perpetual moment : "The Catholic Church repeats the same thing again and again for 2000 years and for this reason, it is still standing". Since 1919, the time of the Paris Conference, until April 24, 2021, when the President of the United States used the word "genocide", 100 years have passed in which the Armenian lobby has perpetually repeated its lie. [8] From the point of view of black propaganda and the persuasion method is tried to establish by the Armenian state with different institutions, all over the world. Before 1915, Armenian merchants and missionaries who immigrated to the United States in particular, were able to initiate black propaganda [ towards Turkey] with their actions. This black propaganda method led to the lobbyism, through mass media, literature, and art fed the broad masses. In particular, literature published before 1915, which was used for propaganda, serves as a source. The American missionary Frederick Davis Greene, who spent four years in Anatolia, published a book in 1895 in which he claimed that the Turks were massacring Armenians. In the following years he published 3 more books with the same content. These books are, Pastor Edwin M.Bliss, The Armenian Atrocities; A.W.Williams, Bleeding Armenia; Frederic Davis Greene, Armenian Massacres or The Sword of Muhammed. With these publications we can add to the black propaganda these sources.[9] The First World War, as in many areas, brought to light a change in the approach to propaganda. In particular, to motivate the own population for the war and to discredit the enemy, methods were developed. These methods included the mobilization of minorities [ In the enemy state] to win the war. The French, the English and the Americans in particular were interested in the Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire. The incidents in 1915 are in this framework was an essential source to feed the propaganda.The Englishman Lord James Bryce published a book entitled The treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire 1915-16, and the U.S. ambassador to Istanbul Henry Morgenthau published The Ambassador's Story in 1918 in New York. In the broad framework it contained the letters of Armenians is considered today as a standard work for the [anti-Turkish] propagandists. [10] In the following years, the works published in the media, cite this nonscientific work, which was written by Morgenthau as a novella, as a factual source, and quote it widely. This work represents the theses of the Armenian lobby and the black propaganda, namely the genocide to be accepted by the masses.
Cinema As An Element Of Propaganda
From the beginning, even for social purposes or for art, the ability of films to qualify, and shape people unconsciously for the propaganda goals is considerable. The influence of cinema on individuals, be it power to implement or or propagandistically [to channel] is and has always been open to be exploited for propaganda purposes. In the second half of the 20th century, all countries created their own cinema and moved propaganda to the cinema. In France, cinema was used for propaganda purposes for the first time. In the following era, in order to protect the rights of religious minorities, various sources were created in the USA. In the USA, Jewish and pro-Israel propaganda began to be created. In many films Christian propaganda and USA propaganda was made. In this frame, for the purpose of black propaganda, the Armenians filmed the large-scale project "The Promise". The film was made with the funds of the late Kirk Kerkorian with 90 million. In order to influence the masses, and to strengthen the credibility and the undermining as director Terry George and the actor Christian Bale and the rising film star Oscar Isaac for the film won. The film's score was composed by the famous Chris Cornell. Marketing-wise, a larger sum was also provided for the film. However, this film, which was filmed at a cost of $90 million, grossed only $12.5 million and was a big fiasco for the production company. The content of the script was far from reality and with logic gaps, and can be seen as ineffective from the point of view of black propaganda and a success from the point of view of the [Turks]. Similar projects such as The Bird Farm, Mount Ararat, The Cut are not successful from the point of view of art. Even though these projects may have been successful from the point of view of black propaganda as a project in itself, they were not accepted by the broad masses. The state of Armenia, under the influence of popular culture has tried in various ways to find Turkey guilty of genocide. Likewise, Cher, the Kardashians, Sylvester Stallone were invited for the film gala. Also, celebrities were invited by the production company under the keyword, "Keep the Promise". The main goal is still to try to discredit and weaken Turkey and make it pay compensation. The Armenian lobby tries to establish black propaganda in this framework through cinema, such as the actress Aurora Mardiginian, who at an award ceremony in Erivan, whose recipient was George Clooney, said: "The events of 1915 must be recognized as genocide". In the same speech, she claimed to quote Adolf Hitler, who is said to have said, "Who remembers Armenia? ". She added: " The whole world." In this way, you Armenian side spread through black propaganda, a denigration, without legal legitimacy. The main goal is to weaken Turkey in international relations, to denigrate it and to demand compensation. The propaganda is not based on scientific and international documents, but on black propaganda. All the methods of black propaganda have been used for this purpose.
Conclusion And Suggestions
To counteract the systematic denigration of Armenian propaganda, which has been going on for a hundred years, no conclusion is made here, but a proposal to counteract it, so that the intrinsic motivation to want to be right in this matter is broken. Countrywide, internal propaganda arguments must be communicated and openly presented to decision-makers. The argument of genocide against the Turkish people must be explained to the Turkish people, as well as the definition of genocide. Local and international scholars who want to research this must be provided with state financial resources. It must be summarized a single linguistic argumentation, which is valid for each official diploma to say, if on it addressed, without losing itself in debates. As a manual, a list of arguments should be produced, which can be used at home and abroad to help in debates. This is the only way to counteract the black propaganda.
Research Scientist Murat Pehlivanoğlu