Ottawa to soothe Turks angry over 'genocide' tag
25 October 2006
Globe and Mail
By BRIAN LAGHI
The federal government has moved to mend fences with Turkey by qualifying its support for a controversial declaration that the Turks perpetrated a genocide against Armenians during the First World War.
The move comes just months after Turkey agreed to take in thousands of Canadians stranded in strife-torn Lebanon and after the Turks protested diplomatically by temporarily removing their ambassador and then pulling out of air exercises taking place in Alberta earlier this summer.
Canada and Turkey are both members of NATO and each are contributing soldiers to the war in Afghanistan.
In a brief address at the home of the Turkish ambassador last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay thanked Turkey for taking in the Canadians and then added that Canada supports a Turkish plan to convene an academic panel to study the events of 1915.
Backing the idea for a panel runs counter to the adoption of a resolution by Prime Minister Stephen Harper earlier this year when it affirmed a two-year-old House of Commons vote to condemn the brutal treatment of the Armenians. That move was championed by Mr. Harper's parliamentary secretary, Jason Kenney, and earned the government plaudits within the Armenian community.
"The Canadian government supports the Turkish government's practical proposal to establish a joint committee comprised of Turkish and Armenian historians as well as historians from a third country to look into the events of 1915, and encourages the Government of Armenia to participate in this committee," said Mr. MacKay, according to a transcript provided to The Globe and Mail.
It is unclear what prompted the shift, although Canada and Turkey are traditional allies and Turkey's proximity to the Middle East is seen as strategically important to the West.
An official speaking on behalf of Mr. MacKay confirmed that the minister supports the idea of a panel. "Minister MacKay endorses an independent study of the events of 1915, with third-party participation, in order for all possible facts to be looked at," Dan Dugas said.
About two dozen other countries have recognized the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians during the First World War as a genocide, while Turkey maintains the deaths were caused by civil strife, diseases and famine. At the time, Armenia was under Turkish Ottoman control.
An official with the Turkish embassy said the move is a welcome development. "Genocide is a very serious accusation," Yonet Tezel said.
"Turkey's proposal aims to narrow the gap between the two sides by allowing historians and experts to work together and, more importantly, reach conclusions based on their research in all the relevant archives."
However, an official with the Armenian embassy said the Canadian issue is settled, as far as Armenia is concerned.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Globe and Mail
By BRIAN LAGHI
The federal government has moved to mend fences with Turkey by qualifying its support for a controversial declaration that the Turks perpetrated a genocide against Armenians during the First World War.
The move comes just months after Turkey agreed to take in thousands of Canadians stranded in strife-torn Lebanon and after the Turks protested diplomatically by temporarily removing their ambassador and then pulling out of air exercises taking place in Alberta earlier this summer.
Canada and Turkey are both members of NATO and each are contributing soldiers to the war in Afghanistan.
In a brief address at the home of the Turkish ambassador last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay thanked Turkey for taking in the Canadians and then added that Canada supports a Turkish plan to convene an academic panel to study the events of 1915.
Backing the idea for a panel runs counter to the adoption of a resolution by Prime Minister Stephen Harper earlier this year when it affirmed a two-year-old House of Commons vote to condemn the brutal treatment of the Armenians. That move was championed by Mr. Harper's parliamentary secretary, Jason Kenney, and earned the government plaudits within the Armenian community.
"The Canadian government supports the Turkish government's practical proposal to establish a joint committee comprised of Turkish and Armenian historians as well as historians from a third country to look into the events of 1915, and encourages the Government of Armenia to participate in this committee," said Mr. MacKay, according to a transcript provided to The Globe and Mail.
It is unclear what prompted the shift, although Canada and Turkey are traditional allies and Turkey's proximity to the Middle East is seen as strategically important to the West.
An official speaking on behalf of Mr. MacKay confirmed that the minister supports the idea of a panel. "Minister MacKay endorses an independent study of the events of 1915, with third-party participation, in order for all possible facts to be looked at," Dan Dugas said.
About two dozen other countries have recognized the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians during the First World War as a genocide, while Turkey maintains the deaths were caused by civil strife, diseases and famine. At the time, Armenia was under Turkish Ottoman control.
An official with the Turkish embassy said the move is a welcome development. "Genocide is a very serious accusation," Yonet Tezel said.
"Turkey's proposal aims to narrow the gap between the two sides by allowing historians and experts to work together and, more importantly, reach conclusions based on their research in all the relevant archives."
However, an official with the Armenian embassy said the Canadian issue is settled, as far as Armenia is concerned.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Labels: Genocide Recognition
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 10:18 AM
2 Comments:
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
October 26, 2006 Thursday
SECTION: LETTER TO THE EDITOR; Pg. A20
HEADLINE: The genocide question
BYLINE: AYSE KOYMEN
DATELINE: Ottawa
Canadian foreign policy has suffered due to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's eagerness to win votes from well-organized ethnic groups in Canada. Not one international court has convicted Turkey of genocide. Eminent historians such as Bernard Lewis, J. McCarthy and, recently, Guenther Lewy, have dismissed Armenians' claims that the deaths of Armenians during the First World War was genocide.
The Turkish government has invited the Armenian government to investigate this issue jointly in the presence of neutral experts from other countries. But Armenia so far rejects this offer, apparently afraid that the truth will come out. Armenia's strategy so far is to win over parliamentarians in Western countries, thanks to its organizational skills. Parliamentarians are not experts on history.
Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay has done well to approve of research to be done on Armenian claims. This is one step in the right direction after the initial blunders of his government.
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
October 26, 2006 Thursday
SECTION: LETTER TO THE EDITOR; Pg. A20
HEADLINE: The genocide question
BYLINE: DIKRAN ABRAHAMIAN
DATELINE: Penetanguishene, Ont.
Re Ottawa To Soothe Turks Angry Over 'Genocide' Tag (Oct. 25): Turkey's official call for a panel of historians to determine whether the Armenian massacres constitute a genocide or not is dishonest. Many such studies have already been done by renowned historians and scholars. One is the 2000 resolution of the International Association of Holocaust and Genocide Scholars that said it was genocide. None other than Elie Wiesel was on the list of those signing the resolution.
Furthermore, in June, 2005, in an open letter to the Turkish Prime Minister, the association clearly stated the following. "We want to underscore that it is not just Armenians who are affirming the Armenian genocide but it is the overwhelming opinion of scholars who study genocide: hundreds of independent scholars, who have no affiliations with governments, and whose work spans many countries and nationalities and the course of decades."
The International Center for Transitional Justice was commissioned to do a study for the Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission. It did. Its report concluded that it was genocide. The membership of TARC was half Turkish and half Armenian.
What's lacking is not the historical evidence, it is the political will of the Turkish government to face its own past. Without this "the gap between the two sides" cannot be narrowed.
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