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TURKEY PULLS OUT FROM MILITARY EXERCISE IN CANADA TO PROTEST ARMENIAN GENOCIDE STATEMENT
Benjamin Harvey
AP Worldstream
May 11, 2006
Turkey pulled out of a military exercise in Canada, a Foreign Ministry
official said Thursday, further expressing Turkey's displeasure with
its NATO ally for saying Turks committed genocide against Armenians
during World War I.
The refusal to send Turkish F-16s and officers comes in a week of
tense diplomacy for the Turks, who recalled ambassadors to both France
and Canada in protest against recent statements on the killings of
Armenians in those countries.
Turkey vehemently denies that a genocide took place, and has made it
government policy to fight such allegations.
The Foreign Ministry official spoke on condition of anonymity, in
keeping with government rules. He said the military exercise in Canada
was not a NATO exercise, but was open to other allied countries and
that Turkey had planned to send six or seven F-16s and pilots.
An earlier statement from the Foreign Ministry criticized Canadian
Prime Minister Stephen Harper for saying he stood by the Canadian
parliament when it voted to recognize that Armenians were victims of
a genocide. The Turkish statement said a freeze in Turkish-Canadian
relations was evidence of Canada's unhelpful stance on the issue.
The decision to pull out of the military exercise was "to tell them
we are upset about their attitude, about their policies," the Foreign
Ministry official said.
Benjamin Harvey
AP Worldstream
May 11, 2006
Turkey pulled out of a military exercise in Canada, a Foreign Ministry
official said Thursday, further expressing Turkey's displeasure with
its NATO ally for saying Turks committed genocide against Armenians
during World War I.
The refusal to send Turkish F-16s and officers comes in a week of
tense diplomacy for the Turks, who recalled ambassadors to both France
and Canada in protest against recent statements on the killings of
Armenians in those countries.
Turkey vehemently denies that a genocide took place, and has made it
government policy to fight such allegations.
The Foreign Ministry official spoke on condition of anonymity, in
keeping with government rules. He said the military exercise in Canada
was not a NATO exercise, but was open to other allied countries and
that Turkey had planned to send six or seven F-16s and pilots.
An earlier statement from the Foreign Ministry criticized Canadian
Prime Minister Stephen Harper for saying he stood by the Canadian
parliament when it voted to recognize that Armenians were victims of
a genocide. The Turkish statement said a freeze in Turkish-Canadian
relations was evidence of Canada's unhelpful stance on the issue.
The decision to pull out of the military exercise was "to tell them
we are upset about their attitude, about their policies," the Foreign
Ministry official said.