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TURKISH AMBASSADOR RETURNS THIS WEEK
by Jennifer Campbell, The Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen, Canada
May 17, 2006 Wednesday
Final Edition
Turkish Ambassador Aydemir Erman is returning to Canada by Thursday
at the latest. Although news reports claimed he'd been recalled to
Turkey, the ambassador was actually summoned home for consultations,
not recalled, which has considerably more charged implications in
diplomatic circles.
Canada, observers will remember, recalled its ambassador to Iran
in 2004 when the Iranian officials abruptly stopped the trial of
Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi, who was charged with the murder of
Montreal photojournalist Zahra Kazemi.
That said, the move wasn't taken lightly, said Yonet Tezel, counsellor
at the Turkish embassy in Ottawa. Mr. Erman went home for "very
high-level consultations" after Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared
that the First World War killings of Armenians by Turks constituted
genocide. Turkey also called home its ambassador to France to protest
a French bill that would make it illegal to deny what it called the
"Armenian Genocide."
"This is a serious thing," Mr. Tezel said, adding that it's not often
that Turkey summons an ambassador home for such consultations. In
fact, he said it had never happened with the country's Canadian
envoy. He said the ambassador's consultations were "constructive
and comprehensive."
by Jennifer Campbell, The Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen, Canada
May 17, 2006 Wednesday
Final Edition
Turkish Ambassador Aydemir Erman is returning to Canada by Thursday
at the latest. Although news reports claimed he'd been recalled to
Turkey, the ambassador was actually summoned home for consultations,
not recalled, which has considerably more charged implications in
diplomatic circles.
Canada, observers will remember, recalled its ambassador to Iran
in 2004 when the Iranian officials abruptly stopped the trial of
Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi, who was charged with the murder of
Montreal photojournalist Zahra Kazemi.
That said, the move wasn't taken lightly, said Yonet Tezel, counsellor
at the Turkish embassy in Ottawa. Mr. Erman went home for "very
high-level consultations" after Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared
that the First World War killings of Armenians by Turks constituted
genocide. Turkey also called home its ambassador to France to protest
a French bill that would make it illegal to deny what it called the
"Armenian Genocide."
"This is a serious thing," Mr. Tezel said, adding that it's not often
that Turkey summons an ambassador home for such consultations. In
fact, he said it had never happened with the country's Canadian
envoy. He said the ambassador's consultations were "constructive
and comprehensive."