“GEGHARD”
SCIENTIFIC ANALYTICAL
FOUNDATION
2025
2025
2025-12-02
At the event marking the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev reminded Azerbaijani “scholars” of the guidelines they must follow when conducting research and publishing articles and maps. The main aim is to deny the historical presence of Armenians in the region or to appropriate their rich cultural history and heritage. Both Azerbaijani and foreign scholars and researchers take part in spreading and advancing these propaganda texts.
For Michael Gunter, an 82-year-old political science professor at Tennessee Technological University in the United States, the Kurds have been his main research focus, and he has numerous contributions on this topic. He has also publications on the Armenian Genocide, yet academia, especially genocide scholars, emphasize his biased and denialist approach.
In 2011, Gunter published a book titled Armenian History and the Question of Genocide. Israel Charny (1931–2024), the former executive director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem and a prominent genocide scholar, reviewed the book and remarked with irony that it was “the best denialist work I have ever seen”. Gunter acknowledges that killings took place, but he claims they were normal security measures against Armenian rebels.
In recent years, Gunter has also begun lobbying for Azerbaijan under the guise of studying the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Azerbaijan. Together with another well-known scholar, Hakan Yavuz, he actively organizes and takes part in events held under Azerbaijani sponsorship.
Gunter’s post-2020 publications with anti-Armenian content include:
In the book Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Historical and Political Perspectives, the authors promote official Azerbaijani narratives as part of a broader political and propaganda agenda. Marc Mamigonian, Director of Academic Affairs at the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, commented that the book uses the word genocide only in quotation marks, such as “the so-called Armenian Genocide,” “genocide allegations,” and “claims of genocide,” among other formulations.
In the book dedicated to Heydar Aliyev, Gunter appears both as an editor and as an author. He compares Heydar Aliyev to Abraham Lincoln and Charles de Gaulle. Along with Heydar Aliyev, Professor Gunter also expresses admiration for Ilham Aliyev.
In April 2022, Gunter took part in the conference “South Caucasus: Development and Cooperation” at ADA University (Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy) in Baku, where Ilham Aliyev was also present. Gunter even compared Ilham Aliyev’s command of English to that of former US President Donald Trump. He said: “I am impressed with your president. He answered questions for three hours. He drew many comparisons. President Aliyev speaks English very well. If we compare, he even speaks better than our former president, Trump.”
Gunter’s most recent work is co-authored with Azerbaijani researcher Ali Askerov. In late September 2025, Brill published their book titled Forgotten Exile. The book claims that in the twentieth century Armenians carried out four waves of displacement against Azerbaijanis: in 1905–1906, 1918–1920, 1948–1953, and 1988–1989. Askerov’s personal memories served as the book’s main source. “A significant part of our original primary sources derives from the personal remembrances of Ali Askerov,” the authors state.
In other words, Gunter and his co-author have introduced a new kind of “primary source”: the personal memories of a researcher with clear political bias.
It is also notable that Gunter explains his denialist work by claiming that Western historiography reflects the Armenian viewpoint and that scholars should elucidate the “other side.” In his book on the Armenian Genocide, he writes that he aimed to present what he calls an objective analysis of the Turkish perspective.
Professor Edward Erickson, their colleague and co-author, reviewed Forgotten Exile, a propaganda piece that lacks factual sources and claims that Armenia expelled Azerbaijanis for almost a century. Erickson says that “Ali Askerov’s and Michael Gunter’s work brings balance to, what has been until now, an Armenian-centric historiography that excluded the plight of the Azerbaijanis.”
This publication aligns with the Azerbaijani government’s expansionist “Western Azerbaijan” project. Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of expelling Azerbaijanis from the territory of the Republic of Armenia and demands that their “return” be ensured.
It has long been clear that Baku allocates substantial resources to this project. It has created an institution, a community structure, a television channel, and regularly publishes books and organizes conferences and exhibitions. Recently, OC Media published an article based on leaked documents that shows how the Office of the President of Azerbaijan directly funds this initiative.
Thus, it is reasonable to argue that Gunter's recent activities reflect close cooperation and coordination with circles in Baku, either directly or through intermediaries.