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The Globe and Mail, Canada
April 23 2004
Response from Turkey to genocide motion muted
By ESTANISLAO OZIEWICZ
With a report from Jane Taber in Ottawa
In early 2001, when French President Jacques Chirac signed into law a
legislative resolution describing the 1915 massacre of Armenians as
genocide, Turkey reacted with predictable fury.
Ankara scrapped or suspended military deals with French companies.
Turks boycotted French cheese and burned tricolour flags. Foreign
Minister Ismail Cem called the French measure "postmodern fascism,
anti-Muslim and anti-Turkish" and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit warned
of lasting damage to Turkish-French relations.
But yesterday, after Canadian parliamentarians passed a private
member's resolution endorsing the controversial view that hundreds of
thousands of Armenians were systematically killed by Ottoman troops
nine decades ago, Ankara's response was far more measured.
Canada's ambassador to Turkey was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to
discuss the matter, and Ankara condemned Parliament's position, which
it ascribed to pressure from "marginal groups."
But Ankara did not blame the Canadian government, and it invoked no
direct warnings that Canadian companies will be hurt, saying: "This
decision will benefit neither Canadian Armenians nor Armenia.
Responsibility for all the negative consequences of this decision
belongs to the Canadian politicians."
Hakan Tunc, an ethnic Turk who teaches international relations at the
University of Toronto, said Ankara's muted response is not surprising
given that the Liberal government publicly refused to endorse the
resolution.
Ottawa's position is that atrocities and massacres were committed.
But it declines to use the word genocide, a crime against humanity
that carries the weight of international law. The legislatures of
about 10 countries have adopted motions using the word genocide but
France is the only one to accept it as government policy.
Turkey says that Armenians were among victims of a partisan conflict
as the Ottoman Empire collapsed during the First World War, and
accuses Armenians of also carrying out massacres while siding with
invading Russian troops.
Mr. Tunc said the current government in Ankara is not
overnationalistic and is "sophisticated enough to understand the
distinction between business and foreign policy."
Several Canadian companies that wish to bid on lucrative projects in
Turkey were part of a Canadian Chamber of Commerce lobbying effort
against the resolution.
Gillian MacCormack, a spokeswoman for engineering firm SNC Lavalin
Group Inc., which is in the running to become the prime contractor on
Ankara's subway extension, said yesterday that her company supports
Canadian government policy.
April 23 2004
Response from Turkey to genocide motion muted
By ESTANISLAO OZIEWICZ
With a report from Jane Taber in Ottawa
In early 2001, when French President Jacques Chirac signed into law a
legislative resolution describing the 1915 massacre of Armenians as
genocide, Turkey reacted with predictable fury.
Ankara scrapped or suspended military deals with French companies.
Turks boycotted French cheese and burned tricolour flags. Foreign
Minister Ismail Cem called the French measure "postmodern fascism,
anti-Muslim and anti-Turkish" and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit warned
of lasting damage to Turkish-French relations.
But yesterday, after Canadian parliamentarians passed a private
member's resolution endorsing the controversial view that hundreds of
thousands of Armenians were systematically killed by Ottoman troops
nine decades ago, Ankara's response was far more measured.
Canada's ambassador to Turkey was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to
discuss the matter, and Ankara condemned Parliament's position, which
it ascribed to pressure from "marginal groups."
But Ankara did not blame the Canadian government, and it invoked no
direct warnings that Canadian companies will be hurt, saying: "This
decision will benefit neither Canadian Armenians nor Armenia.
Responsibility for all the negative consequences of this decision
belongs to the Canadian politicians."
Hakan Tunc, an ethnic Turk who teaches international relations at the
University of Toronto, said Ankara's muted response is not surprising
given that the Liberal government publicly refused to endorse the
resolution.
Ottawa's position is that atrocities and massacres were committed.
But it declines to use the word genocide, a crime against humanity
that carries the weight of international law. The legislatures of
about 10 countries have adopted motions using the word genocide but
France is the only one to accept it as government policy.
Turkey says that Armenians were among victims of a partisan conflict
as the Ottoman Empire collapsed during the First World War, and
accuses Armenians of also carrying out massacres while siding with
invading Russian troops.
Mr. Tunc said the current government in Ankara is not
overnationalistic and is "sophisticated enough to understand the
distinction between business and foreign policy."
Several Canadian companies that wish to bid on lucrative projects in
Turkey were part of a Canadian Chamber of Commerce lobbying effort
against the resolution.
Gillian MacCormack, a spokeswoman for engineering firm SNC Lavalin
Group Inc., which is in the running to become the prime contractor on
Ankara's subway extension, said yesterday that her company supports
Canadian government policy.