Turkey Pulls Envoys To Canada, France

[vava]

Turkey pulls envoys to Canada, France

Last Updated Mon, 08 May 2006 10:27:51 EDT

Source : CBC News

 

Turkey has recalled its ambassadors to Canada and France to protest moves by the governments of those two countries to describe the mass killings of Armenians 90 years ago as genocide.

 

* INDEPTH: Turkey

 

The diplomatic move, expected to last "for a short time for consultations over the latest developments about the baseless allegations of Armenian genocide," was announced Monday.

 

The envoy to Ottawa, Aydemir Erman, is already back in Ankara, a Turkish government official told CBC News.

 

* FROM APRIL 22, 2004: Turkey denounces Armenian genocide vote in Commons

 

Countries around the world have been putting pressure on Turkey's government to acknowledge what happened between 1915 and 1923, when an estimated 1.5 million Armenians died.

 

Armenians have insisted their people were systematically killed during and after the First World War as the Ottoman Empire tried to quell the population in eastern Turkey.

 

Turkish rulers have long insisted that the death count was much lower, and that the deaths were the result of an uprising by Armenian militants as opposed to a government eradication campaign.

 

On April 21, Prime Minister Stephen Harper repeated his support for past House of Commons and Senate votes that the deaths should be recognized as genocide.

 

"I and my party supported those resolutions and continue to recognize them today," Harper said.

 

For its part, France is considering draft legislation that would make it illegal to deny the Armenian deaths were a result of genocide.

 

French politicians have already voted to recognize the killings as genocide.

 

The international campaign to press Turkey to acknowledge what happened nine decades ago comes as the country seeks entry to the European Union.

 

Among other things, Turkey must agree to abide by European Union standards when it comes to human rights and justice – areas in which its government continues to attract criticism.

[vava]

Here we go again. I hope this doesn't trigger a debate in Canada with regards to Harpers decision to call a Genocide a Genocide.

[Vanetsi]

I hope so too. Although in politics, a person can passionately claim something one day and then retract it the next.

[Yervant1]

I hope so too. Although in politics, a person can passionately claim something one day and then retract it the next.

Harper PM of Canada will not change his mind. He is building credibility for the next election in order to win majority, if he changes his mind the liberals will eat him alive. The Canadian public is not interested in AG.

The more Turkey gets angry and makes waves the more publicity we get, they are in deep sh*t and they know it.

[Arpa]

Harper PM of Canada will not change his mind. He is building credibility for the next election in order to win majority, if he changes his mind the liberals will eat him alive. The Canadian public is not interested in AG.

The more Turkey gets angry and makes waves the more publicity we get, they are in deep sh*t and they know it.

Let Turkey recall its ambassadors from Canada, France and Zimbabwe…. as there will be no Turkey left to send any ambassadors to anywhere. They may not know this but the world knows, it has known for a long time that Turkey is and remains synonymous to that aperture at the lower end of the digestive tract. They may also not know that the Middle East (Turkey and her odd couple ally) is not the center of the world. Look at China and India.

All this spastic and rigor mortis behavior of them is nothing but indicative of their long overdue demise.

Let them recall all their ambassadors from all the world capitals. Pretty soon there will be no Turkey left to send them back.

Soon “turkey” will only be remembered and slaughtered in the month of November…

Gobble-gobble to you too SSO Mehmet Osmanoghlu!

http://bailey.aros.net/nature/images/Turke...e%20reduced.jpg

[Yervant1]

Gobble-gobble to you too SSO Mehmet Osmanoghlu!

Arpa you forgot to put the middle name!!!!

Mehmet Gullugh Osmanoghlu

[vava]

Here's another article in the mainstream Canadian press.

 

Source: The globe and mail

 

Apparently yesterday some of the Canadian news sites were conducting polls centering on Harper's choice to recognize the Genocide. I went to both the Gazette and Citizen web sites and the polls were about other subjects entiirely.... but I wouldn't be surprised to see new polls of this nature soon.

[Boghos]

Here's another article in the mainstream Canadian press.

 

Source: The globe and mail

 

Apparently yesterday some of the Canadian news sites were conducting polls centering on Harper's choice to recognize the Genocide. I went to both the Gazette and Citizen web sites and the polls were about other subjects entiirely.... but I wouldn't be surprised to see new polls of this nature soon.

 

Let them go back and enjoy spring at home. These Turks...spending so much time and effort in what is a most obvious and futile endeavour...

[Yervant1]

Turkey warns France ties could be hit by Armenian genocide bill

 

Agence France Presse -- English

May 3, 2006 Wednesday 11:08 AM GMT

 

Turkey warned France Wednesday that bilateral ties could suffer if

the French parliament adopts a bill that would criminalize any denial

that Armenians massacred during World War I were victims of genocide.

 

"In our meetings (with French officials), we stress that adoption

of the bill could lead to irreparable damage in long-standing

Turkish-French ties and that this should not be allowed," foreign

ministry spokesman Namik Tan told a press conference here.

 

Tan said Ankara is doing everything it can to block the bill, adding

that the French government is doing the same.

 

The bill, expected to be voted later this month, provides for one

year's imprisonment and a 45,000 euro (57,000 dollar) fine for denying

that Armenians were victims of genocide, according to Turkish press

reports.

 

If adopted, it will follow a 2001 French decision that infuriated

Turkey by acknowledging that the mass killings in the dying days of

the Ottoman Empire amounted to genocide.

 

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in

orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917 by Turks, as the Ottoman

Empire, modern Turkey's predecessor, was falling apart.

 

Turkey categorically rejects the claims, saying 300,000 Armenians and

at least as many Turks died in civil strife when the Armenians took

up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with Russian

troops invading Ottoman soil.

[MosJan]

Armenian Genocide: Turkey Considers Possible Economic Sanctions against France

11.05.2006 14:24 GMT+04:00 Print version Send to mail In Russian In Armenian

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Consultations will be held in Ankara with all Turkish Ambassadors accredited abroad, as it was the case with envoys to Paris and Ottawa – Osman Koroturk and Aydemir Erman, stated Turkish MFA Spokesperson Namik Tan. In his words, after the French Senate recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2001, Turkey also recalled Ambassador to France, who returned to Paris after a 6-month stay in Ankara.

 

Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is going to send a letter to Jacquest Chirac. Simultaneously, economic sanctions against Paris are considered. «Political circles of Ankara hope that French companies, specifically Renault, will oppose to Government decision,» Tan stated, reports the Marmara Istanbul-based newspaper.

[MosJan]

Armenia Not Going to Interfere with Turkish-French Relations

11.05.2006 15:18 GMT+04:00 Print version Send to mail In Russian In Armenian

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia is not going and does not have the right to interfere with relations between France and Turkey, acting MFA Spokesperson Vladimir Karapetyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, the recall of the Ambassador from Paris for consultations is Turkey's domestic affair. «We do not have the right to interfere either with the policy of a country, which recalls its Ambassador, or the position of a third country over that decision. Turkey's statements on inadmissibility of «politicization» of the Armenian Genocide issue are old news for Armenia. However, Armenia hails the bill providing for penalty for denial of the Armenian Genocide,» Vladimir Karapetyan believes.

 

We note that on May 18 the National Assembly of France will consider the bill on declaring denial of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey a crime.

[gamavor]

I don't think that Armenia not intervening in the dispute between Turkey and France is a good idea. While Armenian voice could not be heard at least the European countries should show solidarity with the French. Just like at the doors of Vienna, Poles, Germans, French, Hungarians and Italians stood together against the Turkish threat.

 

Today Turkey intimidates the French companies that do business in Turkey. Yesterday they did the same with the Swiss companies, excluding them from tenders of lucrative contracts. Governments have their own agenda and I'm far from the notion that whatever happens regarding the recognition of the Armenian genocide is done because of our beautiful eyes. However, I found it disgraceful and absolutely unacceptable when the European partners of France are just sitting and watching the unfolding scandal. It is absolutely disrespectful on the part of the countries members of the EU and especially the business to take advantage of the spoiled French-Turkish relations for their own good. Same is valid for Canada which had the "balls" to recognize the Genocide. More solidarity, more compassion is what is needed.

 

Armenian Genocide is crime against humanity and as such should unite the good against the evil.

[Vanetsi]

Armenian Genocide is crime against humanity and as such should unite the good against the evil.

 

Is there a good or evil anymore?

 

There's only money.

[vava]

Turkey has withdrawn it's troops and fighter planes from Nato excercies to take place in Canada. That must be major sanctions against Canada....

[MosJan]

CANADIAN READERS APPROVE OF PM STATEMENT ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

 

*

 

The overwhelming majority of readers of the Gazette Canadian newspaper approved of the statement of Prime Minister Stephen Harper that he made on the Armenian Genocide. During an on-line survey «Do you think Stephen Harper acted correctly by recognizing the Armenian Genocide,” 97% of readers answered affirmatively, while 3% said «no». In April Canadian PM recognized the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915. The Turkish MFA called the statement «insulting and having a negative impact on the relations between the two countries.» May 8 Ankara temporarily recalled its Ambassador in Ottawa Aydemir Erman «for consultations,» RFE/RL reports.

[MosJan]

Turkey's Envoys Return To France, Canada Amid Genocide Row

 

AFP, Associated Press

 

Turkey's ambassadors to Canada and France have returned to their posts after being been recalled to Ankara because of disagreements on whether the massacres of Armenians during World War I constituted genocide, a Turkish diplomat said on Thursday.

 

The ambassador to Paris, Osman Koruturk, and the ambassador to Ottawa, Aydemir Erman, "have returned" to their posts after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and foreign ministry officials, the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

 

The foreign ministry said on Monday the two had been summoned to Ankara "for a short time" for consultations. Turkey has warned Paris that bilateral ties will suffer if the French parliament adopts a bill that would make it a punishable offence to "deny the existence of the 1915 Armenian genocide".

 

A first reading of the French bill, proposed by the opposition Socialist Party, is scheduled for May 18. It follows a 2001 French law officially recognizing the Armenian massacres as genocide and, of approved, would provides for a five-year sentence and a 45,000-euro (57,000-dollar) fine for any person who denies that the 1915-17 massacres constitute genocide.

 

"I believe the French parliament will probably not introduce the so-called Armenian genocide like a virus between two countries that have such important ties. I believe common sense will prevail," Erdogan told reporters on Wednesday.

 

In Istanbul, about 30 protestors from the small left-wing Workers' Party gathered in front of the French consulate on the European side of the city to protest against the bill. "We are addressing a friendly message to France: Do not legalize the lie of the genocide," said Erkan Onsel, a party leader, before the group dispersed peacefully.

 

France said Wednesday that it is "very attentive" to Turkey's anger over the bill. The comment from France's Foreign Ministry came as Turkish legislators lobbied their French counterparts to vote down the Armenian genocide bill.

 

The visiting Turkish legislators from Erdogan's ruling party and the opposition met with senior French legislators from the ruling right and opposition left. Lawmaker Onur Oymen said they "relayed the Turkish people's strong reaction to our French colleagues" and warned that there were calls for a boycott of French goods in Turkey and that Turkish-French relations would be severely harmed if the bill is passed, Turkey's Anatolia news agency reported.

 

Turkey was also angered when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper referred to the "Armenian genocide" as fact during commemorations of the 91st anniversary of the killings on April 24. The foreign ministry said at the time that Harper's words were "appalling" and would "negatively affect" bilateral ties. In protest, Turkey withdrew from a planned multi-nation military exercise to be held in Canada, officials in Ottawa said on Wednesday.

 

In 2002, the Canadian Senate recognized the massacres as the first genocide of the 20th century and the House of Commons followed suit two years later.

 

In a related development, Bulgaria’s parliament refused to recognize the mass killings as a genocide, saying this could endanger relations with neighboring Turkey. Legislators voted 81-56 with 33 abstentions against a draft resolution proposed by the ultranationalist party Ataka, calling for "the recognition of the Armenian genocide by the Turks."

 

The motion was rejected with the votes of the parties from the Socialist-led ruling coalition that also includes a mainly ethnic Turkish party, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. "This is a resolution ... that aims to complicate our relations with neighboring Turkey," Socialist lawmaker Mihail Mikov told parliament.

 

According to official statistics, Bulgaria - a tiny Balkan country of 7.8 million - has an 800,000-strong ethnic Turkish minority. About 11,000 ethnic Armenians also live in Bulgaria, and most of them are heirs of Armenian refugees who fled Ottoman Turkey during the early 20th century massacre.

[Yervant1]

CANADIAN READERS APPROVE OF PM STATEMENT ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

 

PanARMENIAN.Net

11.05.2006 13:59 GMT+04:00

 

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The overwhelming majority of readers of the Gazette

Canadian newspaper approved of the statement of Prime Minister Stephen

Harper that he made on the Armenian Genocide. During an on-line survey

"Do you think Stephen Harper acted correctly by recognizing the

Armenian Genocide," 97% of readers answered affirmatively, while 3%

said "no".

 

In April Canadian PM recognized the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey

in 1915. The Turkish MFA called the statement "insulting and having

a negative impact on the relations between the two countries." May

8 Ankara temporarily recalled its Ambassador in Ottawa Aydemir Erman

"for consultations," RFE/RL reports.

[vava]

I found a rather thorough summaryof local (Canadian) media coverage at HyeLog - from articles supporting the denialist perspective as well as those supporting PM Harper's remarks. Good job Vahe

[MosJan]

French Ambassador to Ankara Hopes Parliament Will Vote Down Armenian Genocide Bill

16.05.2006 19:38 GMT+04:00 Print version Send to mail In Russian In Armenian

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Parliamentarians Union head Hasan Korkmazcan said yesterday that a bill about the Armenian genocide facing the French Parliament this week will set a historical test for bilateral relations, while French Ambassador to Ankara Paul Poudade asserted that the French government opposes the bill. The debates about the bill proposing prison terms and fines to those who question the claims are mounting as the date for debates of the bill looms, New Anatolian reports.

 

“Some politicians who have limited political influence, accepted the Armenian Genocide claims,” Korkmazcan said adding that the bill “is targeted against scientific investigations and freedom of speech.”

! Reproduction in full or in part is prohibited without reference to «PanARMENIAN.Net».

[MosJan]

Armenian Genocide: Turkey Discontent with France Again

19.05.2006 15:31 GMT+04:00 Print version Send to mail In Russian In Armenian

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Turkish Foreign Ministry expressed discontent over the decision of the French parliament president to defer the consideration of the bill calling for legal penalties for the Armenian Genocide denial for an undetermined period. The fact is that Ankara expected France not to delay but completely reject the bill on Armenian Genocide denial.

 

To remind, the draft law establishing legal penalties for the denial of the Armenian Genocide, set for a vote today of the National Assembly, was blocked by Jean-Louis Debré, the National Assembly’s president, who, under pressure from the French Government, deferred a vote on the measure for an undetermined period. The anti-denial measure was introduced by the Socialist Group as part of its “Parliamentary Window.” Despite the fact that it was listed as only the second item on the Parliamentary agenda, President Debré effectively blocked its consideration by artificially extending the first agenda item by adding speakers, extending time limits, and other dilatory tactics. These delaying tactics were confronted by the Socialist, Communist and Centrist groups. These protests, notably that of the President of the Socialist group, Jean-Marc Ayrault, led to Mr. Debré finally consenting to examine the anti-denial measure during the remaining thirty minutes left in the session. Mr. Debre again delayed holding a vote and, with time having expired, he postponed the vote to an undefined future session. Sensing the strong consensus behind the measure – and fearful of being isolated within the French political establishment, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Douste-Blazy, spoke against the resolution on the basis of France’s economic interest in Turkey. Almost all the other speakers argued in favor of sanctioning Armenian Genocide denial. Sources within Parliament reported that a broad majority of members, including those in the conservative majority, were prepared to vote for the resolution.

[vava]

France: Armenian-Genocide Bill Put Off

 

(REUTERS)

Published: May 19, 2006

 

Parliament indefinitely postponed a vote on a bill that would make it a crime to deny that the Armenian genocide occurred. Turkish officials had warned France of "irreparable damage" to bilateral ties if the Socialist Party-sponsored bill passed, and Turkey's ambassador to France was temporarily recalled in protest. "We cannot accept this proposed law," Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told the lawmakers, adding that it would be "considered as an unfriendly gesture by a large majority of Turks, whether you want this or not." Several countries, including France, have passed resolutions recognizing the Armenian genocide. The bill to ban genocide denial would have imposed a prison term of up to five years and fines of more than $50,000.