Turkey--modern, progressive, Europeanized Turkey--still will not admit that its Ottoman predecessors slaughtered more than one million Armenians under a deliberate policy to destroy the Armenian people:
Turkey has pulled out of an international military air exercise at CFB Cold Lake to protest against Prime Minister Stephen Harper's characterization of a mass killing of Armenians as a genocide, escalating an already testy diplomatic spat.
Officials with the Turkish embassy confirmed yesterday that a half-dozen Turkish jet fighters, as well as support aircraft that were supposed to take part in the exercise May 17 to June 24 in Alberta, have been withdrawn. The move comes after the Turkish government recalled its ambassador, Aydemir Erman, to Ankara for discussions.
"I think one can draw that conclusion at this point," said one official, when asked whether the decision flowed from Mr. Harper's remarks. "This seems to be related to the not-so-good period of relations we are going through."
The Harper government sparked Turkey's ire after Mr. Harper recognized, on behalf of the federal government last month, that Armenians had suffered a genocide at the hands of Turkey during and after the First World War. The issue is hugely controversial in Turkey, where the government says the deaths were caused by the war and civil strife.
A spokesman for Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said the Turks cancelled their participation on Friday.
Take your damned planes and go home then.
Source: Globe and Mail
2 comments:
I think Turkey will admit it..
but after the canadians admit they flew the planes into the buildings in new york inseptember 2001..
why won't modern progressive canadians admit it?
Why admit something that's simply not true?
Post a Comment