Turkyilmaz’s research shows that the catastrophe of the Armenian Genocide occurred immediately after a period when the Ottoman Armenian communities and their political elites were most optimistic about the prospects of the Armenian people in the empire. Even after the outbreak of the First World War, the leading Armenian circles commonly held the view that "before the Armenian people was rising a new, unlimited and fascinating horizon." However, within months after the war began, this optimism was abruptly replaced by a sudden escalation of conflict, eventually leading to the destruction of the Ottoman Armenians by the Young Turk government.

The existing scholarship in Armenian Genocide Studies does not adequately explain the radicality of this sudden shift from widespread optimism to escalation of conflict. It frames the pre-genocide context as a long-term and gradual escalation, seen as an ideologically, politically, and socially foreordained process. Even those who have raised fundamental challenges to its dimension of teleological historical determinism concur that "on the eve of the First World War, the empire and its Armenian population stood on the edge of a precipice."

Drawing on Ottoman, Armenian, British, and American missionary archival materials, Armenian and Ottoman periodicals, memoirs, and secondary sources, this presentation traces the roots of the widespread optimism among the Armenians in the time period between the Balkan Wars and the First World War. Going beyond deterministic, escalationist, and teleological perspectives on the antecedents of the Armenian genocide, Turkyilmaz’s analysis highlights political agency and the enabling structures of the war. This offers a new perspective on the tragic violence of Eastern Anatolia in the early 20th century." 

Yektan Türkyilmaz, (PhD, Duke University, Department of Cultural Anthropology) has taught at institutions including Sabancı, Bilgi, Duke, California State Universities, and the University of Cyprus. His diverse research interests encompass collective violence, memory making, reconciliation, and the politics of music.

During his tenure as a EUME Fellow at the Forum Transregionale Studien in Berlin (2017/21), Türkyilmaz carried out multiple research projects, building upon his dissertation. His forthcoming book manuscript, "Rethinking Genocide: Violence and Victimhood in Eastern Anatolia, 1913-1915," delves into the conflict in early 20th-century Eastern Anatolia and its intricate memory politics. 

In addition to his book project, Türkyilmaz is actively engaged in several research endeavors:

First, investigating historiographical threads on the Armenian Genocide, he critically reassesses representations of this pivotal event across various media, from scholarly works to popular culture, revealing the complexity of its impact on societal narratives and identity formation. 

Second, exploring the transformative influence of the sound recording industry, Türkyilmaz delves into the emergence of this technology in the Ottoman and post-Ottoman world, examining its profound implications on public space, cultural dissemination, and the formation of nationalist ideologies. His research highlights the interplay between globalization, nationalism, and cultural production. 

Third, analyzing contemporary political upheavals in Turkey, within the broader context of global capitalism and governmentality, Türkyilmaz investigates the rise of popular authoritarianism, institutional fragmentation, and their repercussions on popular culture. By contextualizing Turkey's turbulent history within global socio-economic trends, his research provides valuable perspectives on the evolving dynamics of governance and societal transformation.