Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu gave a searing speech Feb. 27 on the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in the eastern province of Bingol. In his speech he accused the Kurds of taking advantage of the situation in the southeastern border towns of Sur and Silopi. "They are collaborating with Russia like the Armenian gangs used to do. They are opening a diplomatic mission in Moscow," he said.

Nurhan Becidyan, an Armenian-American who served in the Turkish army as a reserve officer in the 1970s, told Al-Monitor about the meaning of the term "Armenian gangs." He said, “When an Armenian hears the term, he immediately recalls the official Turkish government history lessons of the past century that talk about how the Armenians in 1915 collaborated with the ‘enemy’ [Russians] and revolted against the Ottomans. Thus they had to be deported and some unavoidable deaths occurred during the deportations. This is a trauma they have been facing for the past 100 years and they now say, ‘Here we go again.’”

In October 2015, Al-Monitor reported on how the security forces refer to the residents of the southeastern towns as Armenians. Since then the trend of labeling Kurds as Armenians has only become more prevalent and official. On Dec. 29, 2015, Justice and Development Party (AKP) parliamentarian Metin Kulunk told the media that Turkey is resilient in the face of threats. He said, “One hundred years ago it was the Armenian gangs who were burning mosques and schools. Today it is the terror gangs of the PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party].” He blamed these gangs for attempting to undermine the Kurdish identity in the region. Davutoglu, once known as a calm-mannered professor of political science, is repeating similar lines today.

Immediate replies came from HDP Co-chairman Selahattin Demirtas, who is frequently labeled as an Armenian. Indeed, Davutoglu in May 2015 claimed Demirtas’ alleged cooperation with the Armenian diaspora was the reason for the collapse of the Kurdish peace process.