The goals of this petition are simple:

• Change the name of the multimedia news network The Young Turks into one that does not reflect the oppression, deportation, and genocide committed against the ethnically indigenous Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks of modern-day Turkey by the political group known informally as The Young Turks, and
• Have The Young Turks, its founder and host Cenk Uygur, its executive producer and host Ana Kasparian, and its main host John Iadorola acknowledge the genocidal origins and issue a formal apology to the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian people for perpetuating and engaging in the revisionist sanitization of the name. 

Founded by Istanbul-born Cenk Uygur, multimedia news network The Young Turks is known for its advocacy of progressive issues and policies, left-leaning political commentary, and the regular condemnation of violation of civil rights. The name of the organization itself claims to be in homage of a group of forward, progressive thinkers that overthrew despotism in the Ottoman Empire when the Committee of Union and Progress Party forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II into abdication, who were known informally as The Young Turks.

This narrative omits a glaring truth: that the original group known as The Young Turks and its co-founders—Enver, Djemal, and Talaat Pasha—were undeniably responsible for the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian Genocides that concurrently took place at the turn of the 20th century. At the behest of the Three Pashas, over 1.5 million Armenians, between 900,000-1.8 million Greeks, and an estimated 350,000-750,000 Assyrians were systematically slaughtered in concentration camps and death marches throughout the Syrian Desert. Many more were forced into mass deportations, conscripted labor, imprisonment, and into converting to Islam and adopting Turkish identities in order to survive the widespread eradication of the Ottoman Empire’s ethnic indigenous minorities. The loss of life and systematic expulsion of these peoples were so horrific that, at a loss for words on how to accurately describe the atrocities, Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin actually coined the term “genocide” in 1943. 

One can infer at a glance that this name’s dark association with genocide was unintentional, as the Webster’s definition of “The Young Turks” cites it as a term for “one advocating changes within a usually established group.” However, one must call into question the articles written by Cenk Uygur in The Daily Pennsylvanian (1991) and Salon Magazine (1999), in which Uygur unequivocally states the Armenian Genocide is a fabrication created by “the Armenian position” as a means of seizure of Turkish lands and for financial recompense. 

While the name The Young Turks is now synonymous with the news outlet, it is not the only media organization to employ its use. A British record label known as The Young Turks changed its name once concerns regarding the name’s origins were voiced and has went by The Young since April 2021. Its founder, Caius Pawson, stated in a lengthy Instagram post that he was “unaware of the deeper history of term,” when he created the label in 2005, electing to use it in homage of a Rod Stewart song of the same name.

The usage of the name is uniquely troubling in that it not only sanitizes the name’s origins, but completely erases that origin from history. Unless you really look for its genocidal origins, when you Google “The Young Turks” you are met with either information about the network itself, articles about its anchors, articles about the name’s controversy, or information about Cenk Uygur’s 2019 Congressional bid. It is worth noting that The Young Turks is no stranger to this amount of criticism, either—in 2016 during a symposium at Cal State University Northridge, The Young Turks ended a Q&A once the topic of the name’s origins was risen. Armenian-founded organizations such as the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) are among the most staunch critics of the name, and articles on sites such as Vice and The Wrap have condemned its use. The controversy behind the name choice is so well established that it’s a subsection on their Wikipedia article. 

In the 30 years since the Daily Pennsylvanian article, Cenk Uygur has renounced his statements denying the Armenian Genocide three times: twice in 2016 and once in 2019 after announcing his aforementioned Congressional bid for California’s 23rd district amidst the resignation of Katie Hill. However, he has time and time again failed to acknowledge the history of his organization’s name and the historical revisionism that accompanies its explanation.

As the descendant of Armenian Genocide survivors, the name serves as a traumatic reminder of the silencing, erasure, and oppression my people have suffered since we were expelled from our homeland and slaughtered without mercy. When I hear “The Young Turks” I am reminded of the story of my eleven year old great-grandfather toiling away in Der Zor, working his fingers to the bone to craft shoes for the soldiers that lynched his father and forced him to watch before murdering his mother and three siblings right in front of his eyes. I am reminded of my thirteen year old great-grandmother barely escaping the death marches with her siblings. I and so many others affected by these genocides can never reconcile the term as a progressive moniker for idealists. It will always be the name of our murderers. 

With the United States formally recognizing the Armenian Genocide on April 24th—in addition to the unpunished war crimes committed against Armenians by the Azerbaijani government in 2020 over the Republic of Artsakh with the funding, support and aid of Turkey—we must call into question why The Young Turks has kept their name despite years of pressure to change it. To allow The Young Turks to retain their name and thus perpetuate the historical revisionism its use carries, tacitly enables these crimes against Armenians to continue. If The Young Turks truly stands by its convictions and believes that all marginalized communities deserve rights, then the voices of the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians who are pained by the name and have been demanding it be changed for years must be factored into those convictions. It is now more than ever imperative for The Young Turks to acknowledge the genocidal reminder behind its name and change it for good, and for Uygur to properly renounce his problematic past with genocide denial while, along with Kasparian and Iadorola, apologizing to the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian communities for using the name.