ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: STEPHEN HARPER CONDEMNED INTERFERENCE OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES INTO INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF CANADA

Yerkir
20.06.2007 13:50

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – During a roundtable discussion with the National
Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC) Prime Minister of
Canada Stephen Harper reaffirmed that the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide by Canada is a government policy and not "the position of the
elected guys" as some insubordinate civil servants tried to represent.

Stephen Harper also said that he finds it unacceptable the interference
in Canadian internal affairs of representatives of foreign governments
and pressuring or coercion of Canadians and Canadian organizations
to follow certain policies.

The Prime Minister condemned such practices, the Armenian National
Committee of Canada (ANCC) reported. "As the head of the Government
of Canada I can not tell you what to write in your newspaper and
foreign governments can not tell what to write," Prime Minister of
Canada stated.

On April 24 in his annual address in connection with the 92nd
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Stephen Harper made a statement,
for which he was "roughly criticized" by the Turkish MFA. A week
prior to April 24 Turkey had "warned" S. Harper against delivering
a speech on April 24, where events of 1915 are called genocide.

Canadian Prime Minister was warned through diplomatic channels
that "repeating these claims annually will not help in normalizing
Turkey-Armenia relations and will harm Turkish-Canadian bilateral
relations as well. However, Stephen Harper did not cave in Turkey’s
blackmail. He stood firm to his principled stand vis-a-vis the Armenian
Genocide issue.