Armenian National Committee of Canada
130 Albert St., Suite 1007
Ottawa, ON
KIP 5G4
Tel. (613) 235-2622 Fax (613) 238-2622
E-mail:[email protected]
Fo r Immediate Release
October 30, 2006
Contact: Kevork Manguelian
Tel. (613) 235-2622
Canadian Media Tricked by Turkish Propaganda
Ottawa-In the past few days some Canadian media outlets have
published articles about the Turkish government’s so-called proposal
for a commission of historians to study the Armenian Genocide. The
Canadian-Armenian community is appalled and outraged to see respected
media institutions being manipulated by the Turkish government’s public
relations machine and accepting Ankara’s big lie hook, line and sinker.
The Turkish government’s public relations strategy of so-called
"opening of archives" and its "call for a historians commission"
to study the mass annihilation of Armenians are diversions from
its culpability in the first genocide of the 20th century. Despite
decades of costly international public relations campaigns, the Turkish
government’s revisionist stance of denying the Armenian Genocide has
failed to persuade the international community.
Over 450 historians, international law experts and global organizations
have already researched and studied the Armenian Genocide and have come
to the unanimous decision that it’s an incontestable historical fact.
In February 2003, upon the request of the Turkish-Armenian
Reconciliation Commission (which included six Turks, among them
former Turkish ambassador and army general, and four Armenians) the
International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) conducted an
independent study on the Armenian Genocide. The ICTJ study concluded:
"The 1915 mass killing and deportations of Ottoman Armenians meet
the four basic criteria laid out by the 1948 UN Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the crime of Genocide." After the ICTJ
conclusion, the Turkish side abruptly pulled out of the commission
and did not accept the ICTJ report.
Aris Babikian, executive director, Armenian National Committee of
Canada, said: "Why does the Turkish government want to re-invent the
wheel all over again? Why try to prove something that has been proved
again and again by bipartisan historians and scholars? Rather that
trying to distract and mislead the media, why doesn’t the Turkish
government allow its own historians and intellectuals to express
their convictions on this vital subject without fear of persecution?
"We urge the Canadian media to be more vigilant in their handling
of Ankara-issued news releases intended to confuse and mislead our
media," added Babikian.
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The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian
grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a
network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and
affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances
the concerns of the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range
of issues.
Regional Chapters Montreal – Laval – Ottawa – Toronto – Hamilton –
Cambridge – St.
Catharines – Windsor – Vancouver