RESPONSE TO CANADIAN “GENOCIDE” STATEMENT CONTINUES IN ANKARA

Hurriyet, Turkey
May 10 2006

The response from Ankara to Canadian Prime Minister Stephan Harper’s
accusation that the Turks had committed genocide against the Armenians
has climbed to an even higher level in the weeks following Harper’s
April 24 statements.

In the wake of Turkey’s ban on Canadian firms from taking part in
bidding for contracts in the construction of the nuclear power plant
planned for the Black Sea city of Sinop, the next stage of Turkish
reaction to the “genocide” statements was to call back the Turkish
Ambassador to Ottowa, Aydemir Erman, for “consultations” in Ankara.

And now, it appears that the Turkish armed forces too are involved
in the general reaction.

In what was viewed to be a display of shared stance between the
government and the General Staff of the Turkish armed forces, it
was announced yesterday that Turkish military forces will not be
participating in the May 12 “Maple Flag 06” national military exercises
that Canada is planning on holding. Turkey had previously accepted the
invitation of the Canadian armed forces to participate in the exercises
with 6 F-16 fighters of its own. Many other countries, including the
US, are scheduled to be involved with the military exercises.