Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s apology for1937-1938 Dersim pogroms did not yield the results Ankara authorities expected, a Turkologist said.

“Recently, Turkey’s political machine tends to work against itself,” Ruben Melkonyan told a news conference in Yerevan.

“By apologizing, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) meant to administer another strike on Kemalist ideology, rather than face its past,” the expert said.

Melkonyan expressed confidence for de-idealisation of Kemal Ataturk to continue till he’s no longer considered the symbol of Turkey.

Erdoğan apologized for the killings of 13,806 people in the southeastern town of Dersim in 1937, stating that “Dersim is among the most tragic events in our recent history. It is a disaster that should now be questioned with courage.”

It was the first time the Turkish state has offered a public apology to redress the events of its past.

According to different sources, thousands of 1915 Genocide survivors were slaughtered in Dersim.