CANADA SAYS RELATIONS WITH TURKEY REMAIN GOOD AFTER ANKARA RECALLS AMBASSADOR OVER ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Xinhua General News Service
April 22, 2009 Wednesday 5:10 PM EST
Canada’s relations with Turkey remain good although Ankara recalled
its ambassador over Ottawa’s position on the Armenian massacres in
early last century, a government official said Wednesday.
Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed earlier Wednesday that its
ambassador to Ottawa had been called back after Canadian government
ministers and politicians took part in a ceremony Tuesday night
commemorating the tragedy that happened 1915-1917.
The recall does not represent a diplomatic breakdown and "we have good
relations with Turkey — they are allies," said Catherine Loubier,
spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon.
Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks, an event viewed by scholars as the first genocide of
the 20th century.
Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide and contends that
the toll has been inflated and the casualties were victims of civil
war and unrest.
Canada’s parliament passed a motion in 2004 recognizing the event
as genocide.
This has been the second time Turkey has recalled its ambassador
to Canada over the dispute. In 2006, Turkey briefly withdrew its
ambassador over remarks Prime Minister Stephen Harper made in support
of recognizing the mass killings as genocide.