CANADIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY WITHDRAWS ITS SPONSORSHIP OF TURKISH CONFERENCE

Asbarez
11/3/2006

OTTAWA–The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT)
has withdrawn its sponsorship of "Turkey in the World: Implications
for Canada" one-day conference organized by the Turkish Canadian
Advocacy Group and sponsored by DFAIT and the Turkish Embassy. The
conference will take place on November 3 in Ottawa.

One of the most disturbing aspects of the conference is a "special
lecture" titled "History as a Present Day Problem: the Ottoman Armenian
Question" to be delivered by Prof. Guenter Lewy, a well-known Armenian
Genocide denier engaged in Turkish propaganda rather than in scholarly
research.

Prof. Lewy’s participation in a DFAIT sponsored conference is in
conflict with the policies of the Canadian government and public
pronouncements of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign
Affairs."

Moreover, the conference included discussions on Middle Eastern,
Mediterranean and Caucuses issues without representation from those
regions. Rather than make the conference an open and pluralistic
forum conducted by academic, diplomatic and expert participation,
organizers had handpicked panelists who are guaranteed to deliver
the message the organizers wanted to hear.

The withdrawal of DFAIT from the conference followed an October 23
letter by the Armenian National Committee of Canada to Minister MacKay
and a presentation to DFAIT of the concerns of the Canadian-Armenian
community.

The ANCC considers such a sponsorship morally and ethically
unacceptable and at odds with Canadian values and what Canada stands
for. "The conference and Prof. Lewy’s "headline" participation is
an insult to the Canadian government, to the House of Commons and to
Senate Members, to Quebec, Ontario and to British Columbia–the three
provinces which recognize the Armenian Genocide as a historic fact,"
said Aris Babikian, executive director of ANCC.

"The ANCC would like to take this opportunity to thank DFAIT and other
political authorities for their understanding and valuable input in
upholding the government’s principled stand on such important human
rights issues as the Armenian Genocide," said Babikian.