Daily Star, Lebanon
May 9 2006
Turkey recalls ambassadors to France, Canada
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
ANKARA: Turkey said Monday it had temporarily recalled its
ambassadors in France and Canada for consultations over disagreements
with both countries on whether massacres of Armenians under the
Ottoman Empire should be termed genocide or not. “Our ambassador in
Paris, Osman Koruturk, and our ambassador in Ottawa, Aydemir Erman,
have been recalled to Ankara for a short time for consultations on
the latest developments,” the Foreign Ministry said in a brief
statement.
“We foresee that our ambassadors will return to their duties after
the consultations,” it said.
Last week, Turkey warned France that bilateral ties would suffer
“irreparable damage” if the National Assembly passes a bill that
would make it a punishable offense to “deny the existence of the 1915
Armenian genocide.”
If approved, the bill would provide for one year in prison and a
45,000-euro ($57,000) fine for any person who denies that the
1915-1917 massacres of Armenians were genocide.
The bill, which follows a 2001 French law officially recognizing the
massacres as genocide, was proposed by members of the opposition
Socialist Party (PS) and will have its first reading before the
Assembly on May 18.
Turkey was also angered when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
referred to the “Armenian genocide” in a statement praising
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 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.
Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917, as the Ottoman Empire,
modern Turkey’s predecessor, was falling apart.
Turkey categorically rejects the claims. – AFP