Armenian National Committee of Canada
130 Albert St., Suite 1007
Ottawa, ON
KIP 5G4
Tel. (613) 235-2622
Fax (613) 238-2622
E-mail:[email protected]
F or Immediate Release
September 8, 2006
Contact: Roupen Kouyoumjian
Tel.: (613) 235-2622
ANCC Opposes Sending of Turkish Troops to Lebanon
Ottawa, Sep. 8- The representatives of Armenian National Committee of
Canada (ANCC) today met with Lebanon’s ambassador to Canada, His Excellency
Raymond Baaklini, to discuss the Canadian-Armenian community’s anxiety and
concern in regard to the participation of Turkish troops in the UN
peacekeeping forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
Jean Meguerditchian, president, ANCC, and Aris Babikian, the committee’s
national office Executive Director, handed Mr. Baaklini a letter opposing
the inclusion of the Turkish forces in the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission
between Lebanon and Israel. The ANCC representatives said it is ironic that
a country which has the world’s worst record of human rights abuses and
ethnic cleansing of its minorities is being called upon to participate in a
peace mission.
The invitation is doubly ironic because the country that Turkey is supposed
to help (Lebanon) is a former colony of Turkey. During the colonization,
Turkey perpetrated massacres and mass hangings in the Martyrs Square in
downtown Beirut and implemented a deliberate policy of starvation of the
Christian population of Mount Lebanon.
The Lebanese ambassador was attentive to the concerns and position of ANCC.
He promised that he would transmit the committee’s letter and the concerns
of the Canadian-Armenian community to the Lebanese government.
On August 30 the ANCC sent a similar letter to the Foreign Affairs of
Canada, the Hon. Peter Mckay questioning the moral authority and the value
of the Turkish Forces participation in a peacekeeping mission in a country
were hundred thousand of Armenian victims of the Genocide which Turkey
perpetrated still live.
-30-
The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian
grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of
offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and affiliated
organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances the concerns of
the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range of issues.
Regional Chapters
Montreal – Laval – Ottawa – Toronto – Hamilton – Cambridge – St.
Catharines – Windsor – Vancouver