After the conquest of Western Armenia, in the process of Turkification and Islamization, the successes and benefits of indigenous nations and peoples of different religious affiliations were either completely ignored or downplayed, and only a few lines were mentioned in official history books. For example, it is taught that printing, one of the most important tools of scientific and cultural life, was first used in the Turkish state in 1719, almost three centuries after Gutenberg’s invention. However, Armenians first used the printing press in the Ottoman Empire in 1567, long before the Turks.

The first Armenian newspapers created by Armenian intellectuals were Shtemaran Patani Gitelyants, Arshaluys Araratyan and Hayrenaser, published in Izmir since 1839. According to data presented by Armenian language specialist and historian Barsegh Tughlajyan (Pars Tughlaj), the number of newspapers and magazines published directly in Armenian or Turkish with Armenian characters, which were printed in 131 Armenian printing houses in Constantinople and 61 Armenian printing houses in rural areas, in the years 1567-1923, reached 598.

The fact that the total number of Greek, Armenian and Hebrew newspapers does not reach ten today is an indicator of how the non-Turkish, non-Muslim population was destroyed as a result of the genocides and deportations that continue to this day. Resisting this storm of destruction and denial, the first bilingual newspaper “Agos” published on April 5, 1996, printed in Turkish and Armenian, continues its fight against denial and for freedom and democracy with the same determination, regardless of the fact that the newspaper’s founder Hrant Dink was killed on January 19, 2007 by fascist bullets.

It should be noted that, in addition to occupied Western Armenia, countless Armenian newspapers, magazines and books are published mainly in the Republic of Armenia and on all the continents where Armenians in exile live.