In a Kurdish Conference Bilgi University in cooperation with the Helsinki Citizens Assembly and the Empathy Group, Ismail Besikci said this:
When Ali Bayramoglu, a journalist, asked about the allegations that the Kurds committed the murder of a massive number of Armenians, sociologist Ismail Besikci responded by saying:
“The Intelligence Service contained many Kurdish people. Freed from the prison, promised possession, the Kurds were coaxed by the then government into participating in the Armenian genocide. The Kurds then did not act on their own free will. In the killing of many Kurds such as Musa Anter, the Kurds were again used to trigger violence.”