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Ottawa Citizen, Canada
August 13, 2012 Monday
Final Edition
A tribute to Turkish diplomat? Don't go asking, it's a secret; Cryptic
comments from government on rising metal mystery by parkway
by Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
At the corner of Island Park Drive and the Ottawa River Parkway, a
mystery grows from the ground, beneath a white tarp, behind a screened
fence.
It appears to be a metalribbed frame in the shape of a half-sphere. It
is very large, maybe five metres in diameter, and the outer skin is
slowly being covered in cedar-like blocks of wood, like Popsicle
sticks round a bowl.
Sitting on a pair of metal mounts, it faces west and is tilted
slightly toward the sky, at an angle like a satellite dish.
What is it?
Well, for now, the federal government says we don't need to know.
The land is owned by the National Capital Commission, which takes its
public installations rather seriously. It immediately referred
questions to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International
Trade.
To which an official in Minister John Baird's office, had this to say:
"An announcement is forthcoming."
Curious. In a city where a shovel can't touch sacred NCC soil without
endless consultation and debate - this is an agency, after all, that
once fined a man for picking up a federally-owned pine cone - why all
the secrecy at such a high-profile corner?
Here was the followup email from Baird's office: "We'll have something
to announce in the very near future."
Wonderful. Except we won't need the announcement once the thing is
finished, will we? We await the press release from the feds telling us
the London Olympics have started.
Well, some things we know. There are Turkish workers on site and
materials coming out of 20 or so wooden crates, each bearing Turkish
writing. On the grass is a stray packing label from Turkish Airlines.
The Citizen has been told it is a monument, first constructed in
Turkey, then disassembled, put in crates, and shipped to our sunny
shores in numbered pieces. "Like Lego," said someone familiar with the
construction.
No one at the site was terribly forthcoming with information. In fact,
a construction worker, comically, began photographing a Citizen
staffer who was photographing the monument. Real spy stuff, for sure.
Why Turkey? A source familiar with the matter tells us it is a
monument to diplomats felled in the line of duty.
It is now beginning to make sense. On Aug. 27, 1982, 30 years ago this
month, a Turkish diplomat, Col. Atilla Altikat, was gunned down only
steps from the site of this installation. A military attaché, Altikat
was driving to work when he stopped at a red light. A gunman pulled up
and fired about 10 shots from a handgun toward the father of two. He
died at the wheel.
No one has ever been arrested, but an Armenian terrorist group claimed
responsibility.
The assassination was part of a worldwide attack on Turkish diplomats.
In April of that same year, in fact, a commercial counsellor attached
to the Ottawa embassy, Kani Gungor, was shot outside his home and left
paralyzed.
In 1985, the embassy on Wurtemburg Street, just off Rideau, was
attacked near dawn in a raid that began with a hail of bullets, then
an explosion. A Canadian security guard was killed, and the ambassador
was seriously hurt while trying to escape.
Taken together, they almost certainly represent the most violent
attacks ever made on the capital's diplomatic corps in 150 years.
A source tells us the monument is not just for Turkish victims,
however, but all members of the diplomatic community who have met with
calamity while trying to best represent their nations's interests and
further the cause of peace.
If this is so, it certainly would have some strong patriotic content
as the list of Canadian foreign service staff killed or injured on
duty - Afghanistan tragically reminds us - is not short.
The bulk of the work is to be completed within 10 days or so. It is
believed the monument will also be lit, as an electrical contractor
was on site last week.
It is plausible the monument will be ready for Aug. 27, the 30th
anniversary of the Altikat slaying. But, of course, we aren't allowed
to know that. Big secret and all. We only own the land.
The Turkish Embassy declined to comment, referring questions to
Baird's office. You know how that ends.
It's a shame, really, as it looks to be a magnificent symbol, a halved
globe for a broken world, in a capital that could use more outdoor
expressions of Canada's place in the world.
Does it, too, mark a maturation in Turkish-Armenian relations on our
soil? Possibly.
Or it's a giant satellite dish. How dare you even ask?
August 13, 2012 Monday
Final Edition
A tribute to Turkish diplomat? Don't go asking, it's a secret; Cryptic
comments from government on rising metal mystery by parkway
by Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
At the corner of Island Park Drive and the Ottawa River Parkway, a
mystery grows from the ground, beneath a white tarp, behind a screened
fence.
It appears to be a metalribbed frame in the shape of a half-sphere. It
is very large, maybe five metres in diameter, and the outer skin is
slowly being covered in cedar-like blocks of wood, like Popsicle
sticks round a bowl.
Sitting on a pair of metal mounts, it faces west and is tilted
slightly toward the sky, at an angle like a satellite dish.
What is it?
Well, for now, the federal government says we don't need to know.
The land is owned by the National Capital Commission, which takes its
public installations rather seriously. It immediately referred
questions to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International
Trade.
To which an official in Minister John Baird's office, had this to say:
"An announcement is forthcoming."
Curious. In a city where a shovel can't touch sacred NCC soil without
endless consultation and debate - this is an agency, after all, that
once fined a man for picking up a federally-owned pine cone - why all
the secrecy at such a high-profile corner?
Here was the followup email from Baird's office: "We'll have something
to announce in the very near future."
Wonderful. Except we won't need the announcement once the thing is
finished, will we? We await the press release from the feds telling us
the London Olympics have started.
Well, some things we know. There are Turkish workers on site and
materials coming out of 20 or so wooden crates, each bearing Turkish
writing. On the grass is a stray packing label from Turkish Airlines.
The Citizen has been told it is a monument, first constructed in
Turkey, then disassembled, put in crates, and shipped to our sunny
shores in numbered pieces. "Like Lego," said someone familiar with the
construction.
No one at the site was terribly forthcoming with information. In fact,
a construction worker, comically, began photographing a Citizen
staffer who was photographing the monument. Real spy stuff, for sure.
Why Turkey? A source familiar with the matter tells us it is a
monument to diplomats felled in the line of duty.
It is now beginning to make sense. On Aug. 27, 1982, 30 years ago this
month, a Turkish diplomat, Col. Atilla Altikat, was gunned down only
steps from the site of this installation. A military attaché, Altikat
was driving to work when he stopped at a red light. A gunman pulled up
and fired about 10 shots from a handgun toward the father of two. He
died at the wheel.
No one has ever been arrested, but an Armenian terrorist group claimed
responsibility.
The assassination was part of a worldwide attack on Turkish diplomats.
In April of that same year, in fact, a commercial counsellor attached
to the Ottawa embassy, Kani Gungor, was shot outside his home and left
paralyzed.
In 1985, the embassy on Wurtemburg Street, just off Rideau, was
attacked near dawn in a raid that began with a hail of bullets, then
an explosion. A Canadian security guard was killed, and the ambassador
was seriously hurt while trying to escape.
Taken together, they almost certainly represent the most violent
attacks ever made on the capital's diplomatic corps in 150 years.
A source tells us the monument is not just for Turkish victims,
however, but all members of the diplomatic community who have met with
calamity while trying to best represent their nations's interests and
further the cause of peace.
If this is so, it certainly would have some strong patriotic content
as the list of Canadian foreign service staff killed or injured on
duty - Afghanistan tragically reminds us - is not short.
The bulk of the work is to be completed within 10 days or so. It is
believed the monument will also be lit, as an electrical contractor
was on site last week.
It is plausible the monument will be ready for Aug. 27, the 30th
anniversary of the Altikat slaying. But, of course, we aren't allowed
to know that. Big secret and all. We only own the land.
The Turkish Embassy declined to comment, referring questions to
Baird's office. You know how that ends.
It's a shame, really, as it looks to be a magnificent symbol, a halved
globe for a broken world, in a capital that could use more outdoor
expressions of Canada's place in the world.
Does it, too, mark a maturation in Turkish-Armenian relations on our
soil? Possibly.
Or it's a giant satellite dish. How dare you even ask?