A professor says Turkey's hosting of the ANZAC celebrations in Gallipoli are another way of covering up the Armenian genocide.

Auckland University political lecturer Maria Armoudian says it began in 1915, the day before ANZAC soldiers stormed Gallipoli. 

"Because they fall one day apart from each other all Turkey has to do is move the commemoration of ANZAC Day one day up, and there goes the official start date of the Armenian genocide."

Professor Maria Armoudian says New Zealanders should honour those who died in the genocide, as well as the soldiers who died in Gallipoli during World War 1.

One Maori scholar, David Rankin, is calling for Maori to boycott ANZAC celebrations to show indigenous solidarity with the nearly 1.5 million Armenians killed during the course of World War 1.

“The indigenous Armenian population was slaughtered by the colonising Turks and our involvement in the ANZAC centennial at Gallipoli is supporting the genocide of the coloniser. Indigenous peoples need to stand up and fight the oppressor.”

Maria Armoudian says there's room to honour all of the dead, and we should do so.

"New Zealand should commemorate the ANZACs, and I think it should recognise the Armenian genocide. Hundreds of Armenians live here as Kiwis and they are integrated into New Zealand culture now."

Turkey denies that the term genocide is an accurate reflection of the mass killings of Armenians that took place during WW1.

22 nations officially recognise the event as a genocide, though New Zealand is not among them.