TURKEY CALLS BACK AMBASSADOR TO CANADA
SUZAN FRASER

AP foreign
Wednesday April 22 2009

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) Turkey recalled its ambassador to Canada, an
official said Wednesday, after government ministers there reportedly
took part in an event that labeled the Ottoman-era killings of
Armenians as genocide.

Ambassador Rafet Akgunay returned to Ankara for consultations, the
government official said on condition of anonymity because he was
not authorized to speak with journalists on the subject. He did not
say why Akgunay was recalled or for how long.

Turkey is upset, however, that Canadian officials reportedly attended
an event Monday commemorating the deaths Armenians at the end of
World War I as genocide. Hurriyet newspaper said the event in Ottawa
was reportedly organized to mark the fifth anniversary of a vote in
Canada’s parliament to recognize the killings as genocide.

It is the second time that Turkey has recalled its ambassador to Canada
over the genocide dispute. In 2006, Turkey criticized Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper for remarks he made in support of recognizing
the mass killings as genocide and briefly withdrew its ambassador. It
also pulled out of a military exercise in Canada in protest.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks- an event widely viewed by genocide scholars as the
first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies that the d eaths
constituted genocide, contending the toll has been inflated and the
casualties were victims of civil war and unrest.

Lawmakers in the United States have also introduced a resolution
that would call the death genocide. If passed, the resolution could
undermine efforts by President Barack Obama’s administration to win
NATO ally Turkey’s help on key foreign policy goals.

U.S. legislators almost passed a similar resolution two years ago,
but congressional leaders did not bring it up for a vote after intense
pressure from the Bush administration.

Obama avoided the term "genocide" when he addressed Turkish lawmakers
during his visit a month ago. But he said, in response to a question,
that he had not changed his views. As a presidential candidate,
Obama said the killings amounted to genocide.