TURKEY’S DIPLOMATIC TRIALS
by Jennifer Campbell, The Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa Citizen
November 8, 2006 Wednesday
Final Edition

Talk about a last-minute change of heart. Organizers of an academic
conference on Turkey scheduled for last Friday received word from the
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade that morning
that the funding they’d been promised was being yanked.

The one-day conference went ahead anyway but the surprise announcement
left some wondering about the department’s motives.

Turkish Ambassador Aydemir Erman was typically diplomatic. He
admitted the department withdrew its support but added it still sent
a representative to the conference. Foreign Affairs director Peter
Lundy gave an overview about bilateral relations but wouldn’t speak
to the media.

Spokeswoman Catherine Gagnaire said the department had hoped the
conference would remain focused on Turkey and Canada.

"As controversies developed relating to Turkey’s differences with
other countries including Armenia and Cyprus, this shifted the focus
of the conference," Ms. Gagnaire said in an e-mail. "Consequently,
the department withdrew its official sponsorship."

The federal funding withdrawal came days after Foreign Affairs
Minister Peter MacKay showed up at a reception for the newly formed
Canada-Turkey Parliamentary Friendship Group and spoke encouragingly
about Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s proposal to strike
a joint historical commission to examine facts about what the Turks
call the "Armenian tragedy" and what the Armenians prefer to label
a genocide.

In May, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the 1915 atrocities a
genocide, a move that led to the Turkish government calling Mr. Erman
home for high-level consultations.

It’s not clear whether Armenian protesters outside old city hall the
morning of the conference had anything to do with Foreign Affairs’
decision. They were handing out material discrediting scholar Guenter
Lewy, a professor from the University of Massachusetts who delivered
a paper titled "History as a Present Day Problem: The Ottoman Armenia
Question."

Mr. Lewy says he’s met by Armenians wherever he goes.

CLIMATE-CHANGE POLICY and visas

RESULT IN CoolER relations

When it comes to Canada-European Union relations, the newly arrived
head of the European Commission delegation is already dealing with the
fallout of a diplomatic firestorm. Dorian Prince had been preparing
for the Canada-EU Summit scheduled for Nov. 27 in Finland but the
Prime Minister’s Office sent the delegation a terse letter last week
requesting the meeting be postponed.

The Europeans were set to talk about at least two touchy subjects:
the Kyoto protocol and the visa issue between the EU and Canada. Mr.

Harper has said Canada won’t be able to meet its earlier commitments
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Yesterday, Mr. Prince was gracious about the change of plans.

"Of course, it’s disappointing that the summit has had to be postponed
because of technical and timing issues on the part of the prime
minister," Mr. Prince said. "But we look forward to hosting a summit
in the spring."

In the meantime, the EU will plug away at the visa issue. On Monday
Franco Frattini, the European commissioner on justice and home affairs,
arrived in Canada for a two-day visit during which he planned to put
a little political pressure on his Canadian counterparts.

Canada and the first 15 EU member states had a visa-free relationship
but when the 10 new members joined in May 2004, there were seven to
which Canada didn’t extend that courtesy: Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia,
Poland, Lithuania, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Canada did recently
agree to let Estonia join the visa-free club, something EU officials
take as encouraging.

"It has been discussed at the ministerial level in the past, and Canada
has written to us saying they intend to extend the visa suspension
to all member states so there are steps in the right direction,"
Mr. Prince said.

"So this visit is to show that it is important and to show that Europe
encourages a dialogue. I think Canada has accepted (the need for
reciprocity) in principle but it’s taking longer than we would like."

Mr. Prince noted that the Eastern European states in question have
come a long way.

"I can understand that from a Canadian point of view they’ve had
problems in the past but what they have to realize is that the
situation has changed," he said.

"The situation in the Czech Republic cannot be compared to the
situation 10 years ago after the fall of the Communist regime. Today,
the situation is stable, the economy is doing extremely well."

SLOVENIAN EXCHANGE

The president of Slovenia’s national assembly led a delegation to
Canada over the weekend. France Cukjati and a group of parliamentarians
are visiting Ottawa and Toronto.

In Ottawa, they met Commons Speaker Peter Milliken and Senate Speaker
Noel Kinsella.

They also met Peter Van Loan, parliamentary secretary to the
minister of foreign affairs. They met the chair of the Canada-Europe
Parliamentary Association and the chair of the committee on foreign
affairs. In Toronto, the delegation visited members of the Slovenian
community and the legislative assembly and met with Mississauga Mayor
Hazel McCallion.

Slovenia doesn’t share the complaint expressed by many of its fellow
EU members that recently joined the organization: Unlike travellers
from those Eastern European states, its citizens don’t require a visa
to visit Canada.

Jennifer Campbell is a freelance writer and editor in Ottawa.