Turkey recalls envoys to France, Canada
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Tuesday, 9 May 2006: 00.20 CET) – Turkey has recalled its ambassadors to France and Canada in protest against the two countries' moves to describe the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915-1917 as "genocide".
Turkish ambassador to Paris, Osman Koruturk, and ambassador to Ottawa, Aydemir Erman, have been recalled to Ankara for what the government is calling "consultations", after which they are likely to return to their posts, Bloomberg news agency reported.
French lawmakers are scheduled on 18 May to debate a law that would carry a one-year jail term and a €45,000 (US$57,000) fine for anyone who publicly denied the genocide of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire took place.
On Tuesday, a Turkish delegation is set to travel to Paris to lobby against the law, Turkey's Hurrieyt daily newspaper reported.
In 1998, the French National Assembly formally recognized as the killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
Canada has also made moves to describe the event as genocide.
On 21 April, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper repeated his support for past House of Commons and Senate votes that the deaths should be recognized as genocide.
More than one million Armenians died in massacres, camps, and death marches through the Syrian Desert during 1915 when they were forced to leave their homes. Turkey refutes these allegations and advocates the deaths were caused by difficult road and weather conditions during the migration.
Armenians say at least 1 million of their ethnic kin died between 1915-1917 as a result of a deliberate policy of extermination. Ankara claims the death toll is grossly inflated and that 300,000 Armenians died during these years.
In late April, US President George W. Bush described the event as a "tragedy", disappointing the influential Armenian diaspora in the US, which demanded that Washington declare the event a "genocide".
(By ISN Security Watch staff, Bloomberg, CBC News, Hurriyet)
Turkish ambassador to Paris, Osman Koruturk, and ambassador to Ottawa, Aydemir Erman, have been recalled to Ankara for what the government is calling "consultations", after which they are likely to return to their posts, Bloomberg news agency reported.
French lawmakers are scheduled on 18 May to debate a law that would carry a one-year jail term and a €45,000 (US$57,000) fine for anyone who publicly denied the genocide of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire took place.
On Tuesday, a Turkish delegation is set to travel to Paris to lobby against the law, Turkey's Hurrieyt daily newspaper reported.
In 1998, the French National Assembly formally recognized as the killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
Canada has also made moves to describe the event as genocide.
On 21 April, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper repeated his support for past House of Commons and Senate votes that the deaths should be recognized as genocide.
More than one million Armenians died in massacres, camps, and death marches through the Syrian Desert during 1915 when they were forced to leave their homes. Turkey refutes these allegations and advocates the deaths were caused by difficult road and weather conditions during the migration.
Armenians say at least 1 million of their ethnic kin died between 1915-1917 as a result of a deliberate policy of extermination. Ankara claims the death toll is grossly inflated and that 300,000 Armenians died during these years.
In late April, US President George W. Bush described the event as a "tragedy", disappointing the influential Armenian diaspora in the US, which demanded that Washington declare the event a "genocide".
(By ISN Security Watch staff, Bloomberg, CBC News, Hurriyet)
posted by Marko at 5/09/2006 07:40:00 AM
<< Home