By: Hambersom Aghbashian
Gencay Gursoy, (b. 20 August 1939 , in Erzurum-Turkey) is a Turkish Neurologists and human rights activist. A graduate of Istanbul University – Faculty of Medicine, 
in1970, Ass. Professor in 1975, and Prof. in 1980. He was removed from his post In 1983, according to the “Martial Law Act No. 1402″ ( after 1980 Turkish coup), then regained his lost rights in 1990 , by the decision of the Supreme Admin. Court. He spent the years 1968-1969 and 1972-1974 in Oslo, Faculty of Medicine studying Neuroradiology. His researches on cerebral angiography led to the establishment of Neuroradiology lab. His articles of Neurology were published in Int. and national scientific journals, and as book chapters and monographs, and his social-political articles (1975-1990) were published in 1991 as a book titled, captions. Prof. Gursoy was the former secretary general of Istanbul Medical Chamber and a Board member of the Turkish Medical Association . He has Served as the head of the Department of Neurology- Istanbul University (1996 – 2002) and retired in 2006. He was elected as the president of the Central Council of the Turkish Medical Association in 2006 and was among the founders of the Association for Human Rights and the Human Rights Foundation . He served as a board member, and as a president of the Social Studies Foundation for Culture and Arts.(1)
According to ” http://www.thenational.ae “, “Gençay Gürsoy, a Turkish human rights activist, addressed a crowed saying that ” in 1915, within days of the first arrests , thousands were detained and exiled, and hundreds were executed. Forced into the desert, leaving behind all they owned, the Armenians died of disease, starvation, or were massacred by the Ottoman “Special Organization”. “The first genocide of the 20th century was carried out in these lands,”.(2)
According to http://www.turkishnews.com (April 26, 2011), “Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism Initiative” organized events in Istanbul, Ankara, Bodrum and Diyarbakir to commemorate the Armenians massacred in 1915.” Prof. Gençay Gürsoy was one of the participants .(3)
Prof. Gençay Gürsoy was one of the Turkish intellectuals who signed a petition (Dec.2012) against a Turkish denial exhibition which was planned to support Gov. point of view concerning the Armenian Genocide . The message to the Royal Library of Denmark was ” Don’t Stand Against Turkey’s Democratization and Confrontation with its History! “.(4)
According to http://www.bianet.org (Apr 25, 2013), April 24,2013 was observed as the “Armenian Genocide Memorial Day”. Addressing the vigil crowd the night before, Gençay Gürsoy, former chairperson of Turkey’s forensics institute and neurologist, said the arrest of Armenian intellectuals on 24 April 1915 aimed to prevent the world from knowing what were the annihilation politics of Turkey. In a matter of days, the number of arrested Armenian intellectuals, poets and parliamentarians skyrocketed to 2345. The brain of Armenian community was targeted. They were deported to Ayaş and Çankırı. Without any judicial proceedings, 761 of them were killed. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were exiled to deserts, they had to leave behind their homes, work, belongings which were later on vandalized. They were killed by former Ottoman Secret Service (Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa) hitmen. It has been 98 years. The denial resumes and hatred against Armenians is still out there. Those who see Union and Progress Party as their ancestors took Hrant in 2007 and Sevag in 2011. Planners, collaborators and murderers are out there. These are all consequences of denial politics.(5)
Prof. Gençay Gürsoy was one of the intellectuals, politicians, scholars, etc. (from all over the word) who signed a petition calling for the Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey, “Turks, Armenians and Europeans, let’s commemorate the Armenian genocide together and in Turkey!”. The petitions stated that “In 1915, the implementation of a methodical and premeditated plan led to the extermination of one and a half million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, in an attempt to destroy an entire civilization and to “Turkify” Anatolia. The Armenian people were the victims of a genocide which would soon serve as a gruesome reference for others to follow. The successive governments of the Turkish Republic have since fought to deny the dark side of the history of their country, and to make their people and the world forget that the genocide ever occurred…. “For these reasons, on April 24 we will commemorate the Armenian Genocide together and in Turkey. We call upon all individuals committed to recognition, solidarity, justice and democracy to join us or to support us in turning the page on a century of denial.” (www.remember24april1915.eu Feb 19, 2014). (6)
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1-http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gençay_Gürsoy
2- http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/as-centenary-of-armenian-killings-in-turkey-approaches-progress-toward-reckoning-creaks-on
3- http://www.turkishnews.com/en/content/2011/04/26/we-have-to-end-the-policy-of-denial/
4- http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/The_Armenian_Genocide_and_the_Scandinavian_Response
5- http://www.bianet.org/english/minorities/146136-20th-century-s-first-genocide-happened-in-this-land
6- http://www.remember24april1915.eu/turks-armenians-and-europeans-lets-commemorate-the-armenian-genocide-together-and-in-turkey/
also featured on Nor Or, August 7, 2014.