Canadian PM Recognized Armenian Genocide

[Boubrig]

Canadian PM Recognized Armenian Genocide
20.04.2006 20:03 GMT+04:00 Print version Send to mail In Russian In Armenian

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada, has made a clear statement recognizing the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide, reports the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC). In response to a reporter's question regarding the Armenian Genocide, the Prime Minister said: “That was a vote held in the last Parliament [Motion M-380 - April 21, 2004]. As you recall, Parliament passed that resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Our party supported that resolution and we continue to recognize that parliamentary resolution”.

Dr. Vagharch Ehramdjian, Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC), thanked Prime Minister Harper, on behalf of the Canadian Armenian community, for his historic statement. “Stephen Harper's principled and righteous stand in recognizing the Armenian Genocide will finally bring closure to the Canadian-Armenian community,'' said the ANCC Chairman.

http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=17506

[Boubrig]

posted: April 22, 2004
Commons denounces Armenian genocide: 'hypocritical' Martin evades vote

by Alexander Penettaa

OTTAWA (CP) - Canada became one of few countries to formally recognize the genocide of Armenian Turks during the First World War in a strongly worded motion adopted 153-68 in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Government members were discouraged from voting for the motion, which is sure to anger a Turkish government that has never recognized the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians starting in 1915.

Following a charged debate at their weekly closed-door caucus meeting, Liberal backbenchers voted massively in favour while the party's cabinet contingent rejected the Bloc Quebecois motion.

Prime Minister Paul Martin was absent during the politically sensitive vote but Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham defended the government's opposition.

The Turkish government has warned that recognizing the genocide could have economic consequences and Graham said he wanted to maintain good relations with Turkey.

"Turkey is an important NATO ally in a region where it is a Muslim country with a moderate government," he said.

"What we seek to do in our foreign policy is to encourage the forward dimension, we're forward-looking. We'd like our Armenian friends and our Turkish friends to work together to put these issues in the past."

The motion read: "That this House acknowledges the Armenian genocide of 1915 and condemns this act as a crime against humanity."

The Turkish government rejects the charge of genocide as unfounded and says that while 600,000 Armenians died, 2.5 million Muslims perished in a period of civil unrest.

Unlike the Liberal government most opposition MPs - including Conservative Leader Stephen Harper - voted in favour of the motion, which places Canada in a category of only about two dozen countries to have recognized the Armenian genocide.

The United Nations has also recognized the massacre, and Armenians have been fighting for decades throughout the world for that sort of acknowledgement.

One opposition critic labelled the prime minister "hypocritical" for promising more free votes and then forcing ministers to toe the line on such a matter of deep personal conscience.

"It's a terrible double standard for Paul Martin to force his ministers to vote against it and not even show up himself," said Tory foreign affairs critic Stockwell Day.

"That is a hypocritical double standard."

Liberal Hedy Fry supported the motion but said it's important to note the atrocities were carried out under the Ottoman empire, which has faded into history and was long ago replaced by a modern Turkish state.

"I think we need to recognize the past," she said.

"I think it doesn't mean we've broken ties with the current regime in Turkey. They are our colleagues, they are our NATO allies. They are a moderate, Muslim government and I think we need to work with them.

Recognizing what happened in the Ottoman empire shouldn't affect Canada's diplomatic relations with Turkey, she said.

Fry and many other former Liberal cabinet ministers who are now backbenchers also voted in favour, including Martin Cauchon, Stephane Dion, Maurizio Bevilacqua, Lyle Vanclief, Lawrence MacAulay, Herb Dhaliwal and David Kilgour.
• • •

http://paulmartintime.ca/mediacoverage/000456.html

[Pipoyan]

genocide of Armenian Turks

Weirdly written article.

[Gavur]

Canada's 'Armenian genocide' comment sparks row with Turkey

Tue Apr 25, 1:40 PM ET



ANKARA (AFP) - Turkey's foreign ministry said that a reference by Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper to the "Armenian genocide" as fact had hurt bilateral relations.



"We are appalled by the prime minister's comments, which give support to Armenia's unfounded allegations of genocide," the ministry said in a statement.

The statement said Harper's reference to the "Armenian allegations" as fact was serious, and that his position on the issue would "negatively affect ties between Turkey and Canada".

The ministry called in Canadian ambassador Yves Brodeur to inform him of Turkey's "sensitivities" regarding Harper's declarations, a Turkish diplomat told AFP.

"Turkey's views were clearly transmitted to him," said the diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous and did not give the date of the meeting.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen were slaughtered in an orchestrated genocide in the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey categorically rejects claims of genocide, arguing that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians began fighting for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with Russian troops invading the crumbling Ottoman Empire.

The Canadian head of government had on Friday praised commemorations of the massacres in Armenia during World War I.

He noted that the Canadian Senate had passed a resolution in 2002 recognizing the killings in Armenia as the first genocide of the 20th century, and the House of Commons had followed suit two years later.

"My party and I have applied those resolutions and continue to do so," the prime minister said in a statement.

The Turkish foreign ministry said the two resolutions had led to the "stagnation" of bilateral relations.

The statement also recalled that a Turkish military attache had been killed by an Armenian militant group in Ottawa in 1982.

The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet on Tuesday quoted a diplomat as saying the prime minister's comments had led to Canadian companies being excluded from a forthcoming bid to build Turkey's first nuclear plant.

Armenians marked the 91st anniversary of the bloodbath on Sunday.

[Gavur]

ANCC: The Genocide Commemoration at the Canadian House of Commons

39th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION
EDITED HANSARD - NUMBER 008
CONTENTS
Monday, April 24, 2006



STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS
[Statements by Members]
* * *

Armenia

Mr. Gary Goodyear (Cambridge, CPC): Mr. Speaker, on this day we commemorate
a dark chapter in history. The genocide of 1915 took the lives of an
estimated 1.5 million Armenians.
Canada's legislature, from a Senate resolution passed on June 13, 2002
to the adoption of a motion in this House on April 21, 2004, has finalized a
complete acknowledgement recognizing the Armenian genocide.
Canada greatly values the contributions that Armenians make to our
national life. On this solemn day of remembrance, together, our nations look
with hope and determination toward a future of peace and prosperity for all
and freedom from ignorance.
I commend the Prime Minister for his courage and leadership in doing the
right thing yet again and I join the Armenian communities in and around
Cambridge, across this great nation and all corners of the globe, in the
observance of this, the 91st anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
* * *




The Armenian people

Ms. Raymonde Folco (Laval - Les Îles, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, on April 7, the
House addressed the subject of the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
[English]
Today, we commemorate the 91st anniversary of the Armenian genocide
which the House condemned as a crime against humanity in April 2004. On
April 25, tomorrow, we will remember the 6 million Jews deliberately
murdered by Nazis during the second world war.
[Translation]
Without hesitation, we have labeled these massacres as genocides
because, for racial, ethnic, religious or political reasons, certain
countries have sought to annihilate these populations in violation of their
right to life.
Canadians have lost family members in these genocides.
[English]
It is our responsibility to commemorate the memory of these victims as
we reflect on the senselessness of these sadistic atrocities. Canada must
serve as an example to the world that all peoples, regardless of their
colour, ethnicity or religion can live with dignity and respect.
Finally, I would like to welcome to Ottawa Canadians of Armenian origin
from my riding of Laval - Les Îles.

* * *

[Translation]

The Armenian people

Ms. Nicole Demers (Laval, BQ): Mr. Speaker,
[Member spoke in Armenian as follows:]
Parts rashnon serpazan hayr sirelli hay kebektsiner.
[Translation]
Today, April 24, we commemorate the 1915 Armenian genocide that claimed
1.5 million victims. The first genocide of the 20th century wiped out more
than half of the Armenian population.
Two years ago, the House passed the Bloc Québécois' Motion M-380
recognizing the genocide.
The Conservative government must do its utmost to ensure that
recognizing these barbaric acts means more than just passing a motion. We
should adopt an act of formal acknowledgement out of respect for families
who lost relatives under horrible conditions and to show that we will never
again accept genocide.



There are 18,860 Quebeckers of Armenian origin, 5,880 of whom live in
Laval. I am speaking on their behalf today to express the hope that nobody
will ever have to experience such a tragedy again.
[Member spoke in Armenian as follows:]
Guetse high jogovourthe.

* * *

ORAL QUESTIONS
[Oral Questions]

Foreign Affairs

Hon. Jim Karygiannis (Scarborough - Agincourt, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, on
April 21, 2004, I was deeply gratified as the Parliament of Canada voted to
recognize the Armenian genocide. Today there continues to be human rights
violations against the Kurds and the Cypriots in that part of the world.
When will the Prime Minister have the strength of his convictions and
have his foreign minister officially recognize the Armenian and Pontian
genocides committed by the Ottoman Empire?

Hon. Peter MacKay (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the member opposite
will note that the Prime Minister did acknowledge the terrible suffering and
loss of life that occurred over 92 years ago with the Armenian people. In
fact, he noted in his question as well that there were not only one but two
motions passed in the Parliament of Canada in recent years and this
government, as we did in opposition, supported those motions then as we do
today.

* * *

[English
Armenia

The Speaker: Following discussions among representatives of all parties
in the House, I understand there is an agreement to commemorate the Armenian
genocide.
[Translation]
I call on the hon. members to rise to observe a moment of silence.
[A moment of silence observed]