The Young Turks on Fusion

The Young Turks (2005), its co-founder Cenk Uygur and collaborator Ana Kasparian are very controversial in the Armenian community. The name is highly offensive to them because of the historical significance of the term 'Young Turks': In 1908, the political group called the 'Young Turks' came to power in the Ottoman Empire after overthrowing Sultan Abdul Hamid. The main figures of the Young Turk movement, Mehmed Talaat Pasha, Ismail Enver Pasha, and Ahmed Djemal Pasha, began a nationalistic Turkification campaign leading up to the events of the Armenian Genocide between 1915 and 1923. The Young Turks organized the systematic extermination of 1.5 million Armenians and other Christians by killing squads, starvation, death marches and other methods. Although the company's founders have denied any linkage to the name's historical significance, it's undeniable that Cenk Uygur had published a college article denying the Armenian Genocide.

Referenced in Late Night with Seth Meyers: Molly Shannon/Chris Kelly/Cenk Uygur/Nate Morton (2016)