TURKISH ULTRA-NATIONALISTS TRY TO SILENCE PROMINENT CANADIANS
AZG Armenian Daily
22/01/2008
Toronto – The Turkish Government’s propaganda machine tried to
intimidate and silence many prominent Canadians who had come forth to
make deputations during the monthly meeting of the Toronto District
School Board’s (TDSB) program and services committee.
During the Jan. 16 meeting the TDSB committee provided an opportunity
to two Turkish representatives (Ozay Mehmet of the Council of Turkish
Canadians, and Lale Eskicioglu) and four Canadians (Prof. Frank Chalk,
director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights
Studies; David Warner, former Speaker of the Ontario Legislative
Assembly; Leo Adler, prominent criminal lawyer and human rights
advocate; and Hon.
Jim Karygiannis, MP) to present their points of view on the board’s
Grad 11 ‘Genocide: Historical and Contemporary Implications’
curriculum.
The Turkish representatives protested the inclusion of the Armenian
Genocide in the curriculum. The prominent Canadians’ group praised
the TDSB for its moral fortitude, vision, and commitment to develop
such a timely curriculum and asked for the inclusion of the Armenian
Genocide in the curriculum. Mr. Warner read a letter signed by
prominent Canadians from all walks of life, urging the TDSB to "stand
firm by its decision and not to be swayed by politically-motivated
pressure groups." Among the signatories were Stephen Lewis,
Gerald Caplan, Jack Layton, Bob Rae, Joy Kogawa, Amir Hassanpour,
Jacques Kornberg. During the presentations of Chalk, Warner, Adler
and Karygiannis, ultranationalist Turks hackled the speakers and
tried to stop them from speaking. Several times committee chair,
trustee Chris Bolton, was forced to call for order and ask the Turkish
representatives not to disrupt the meeting.After the meeting, members
of the Turkish group approached some of the pro-Genocide inclusion
speakers and taunted them with abuse and profanities. The scene was
reminiscent of the trials of many righteous Turkish individuals who
in recent years have challenged the Turkish Government on its denial
of the Armenian Genocide and have been silenced under Article 301
of the Turkish penal code. At the meeting, Aris Babikian, executive
director of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, tabled a
petition in support of the curriculum. The petition carried 2,643
signatures. Among the signatories were many teachers from the TDSB
system. For the past two years the TDSB has been developing ‘Genocide:
Historical and Contemporary Implications’ curriculum for Grade 11
students. The course comprises of three genocide case studies: the
Armenian Genocide; the Holocaust; the Rwandan Genocide, in addition
to other cases of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.The
course has been approved by the Ontario Minister of Education. An
overwhelming majority of principals, teachers and program directors
have commended the TDSB for this timely project. They have also
indicated that they are eager to teach the program.In the last two
months the Turkish denial machine has launched a vicious campaign of
falsehood, misrepresentation, unsubstantiated accusations, innuendo
and revisionist historical discourse to persuade the TDSB to remove
the Armenian Genocide from the curriculum.