Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Canada's Foreign Affairs Ministry Withdraws its Sponsorship of Turki

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Canada's Foreign Affairs Ministry Withdraws its Sponsorship of Turki

    Armenian National Committee of Canada
    130 Albert St., Suite 1007
    Ottawa, ON
    KIP 5G4
    Tel. (613) 235-2622 Fax (613) 238-2622
    E-mail:[email protected]

    Fo r Immediate Release

    November 1, 2006

    Contact: Kevork Mangeulian

    Tel. (613) 235-2622

    Canada's Foreign Affairs Ministry Withdraws its Sponsorship of
    Turkish Conference

    Ottawa-The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT)
    has withdrawn its sponsorship of "Turkey in the World: Implications
    for Canada" one-day conference organized by the Turkish Canadian
    Advocacy Group and sponsored by DFAIT and the Turkish Embassy. The
    conference will take place on November 3 in Ottawa.

    One of the most disturbing aspects of the conference is a "special
    lecture" titled "History as a Present Day Problem: the Ottoman Armenian
    Question" to be delivered by Prof. Guenter Lewy, a well-known Armenian
    Genocide denier engaged in Turkish propaganda rather than in scholarly
    research.

    Prof. Lewy's participation in a DFAIT sponsored conference is in
    conflict with the policies of the Canadian government and public
    pronouncements of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign
    Affairs.

    Moreover, the conference included discussions on Middle Eastern,
    Mediterranean and Caucuses issues without representation from those
    regions.

    Rather than make the conference an open and pluralistic forum conducted
    by academic, diplomatic and expert participation, organizers had
    hand-picked panelists who are guaranteed to deliver the message the
    organizers wanted to hear.

    The withdrawal of DFAIT from the conference followed an October
    23 letter by the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) to
    Minister MacKay and a presentation to DFAIT of the concerns of the
    Canadian-Armenian community.

    The ANCC considers such a sponsorship morally and ethically
    unacceptable and at odds with Canadian values and what Canada stands
    for. "The conference and Prof. Lewy's "headline" participation is
    an insult to the Canadian government, to the House of Commons and to
    Senate Members, to Quebec, Ontario and to British Columbia--the three
    provinces which recognize the Armenian Genocide as a historic fact,"
    said Aris Babikian, executive director of ANCC.

    "The ANCC would like to take this opportunity to thank DFAIT and other
    political authorities for their understanding and valuable input in
    upholding the government's principled stand on such important human
    rights issues as the Armenian Genocide," said Babikian.

    #

    The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian
    grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a
    network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and
    affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances
    the concerns of the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range
    of issues.

    Regional Chapters

    Montreal - Laval - Ottawa - Toronto - Hamilton - Cambridge - St.
    Catharines - Windsor - Vancouver
Working...
X