Replying to The Armenian Genocide

This is something I've wanted to get a lot of peoples' opinions on for awhile now. I don't want to explain all of it here so if you know about it, cool, if you don't wiki it real quick if you're interested. Since the early 1900s an apparent genocide of Armenians has been occurring in Turkey. I've seen Armenian protests calling for some kind of action to stop it, and I've heard my Armenian aunt mention it once or twice. On the other hand, I have a friend from Turkey who completely denies that the genocide ever existed. According to him, Armenians used to be welcomed in Turkey and we seen as perfectly good citizens. Then he says the Soviet Union brainwashed the Armenian population in Turkey to turn against the government. He says Armenians started to revolt in the country, and in response, Turkey tried to deport them as peacefully as possible. He admits that in some situations some Armenians may have been killed, but he says that it is all self-defense from attacking Armenians that refuse to leave. To this day, I know that the country of Turkey denies to acknowledge the genocide. So, what have you all heard? Who do we believe? The Armenians or the Turks?