ANKARA, 9 May 2006 — Turkey said yesterday it had recalled its envoys to France and Canada “for consultations” amid a growing row over Armenian genocide claims that threatens to harm Ankara’s ties with its two NATO allies.
Turkey denies that some 1.5 million Armenians perished in a systematic genocide committed by Ottoman Turkish forces during and immediately after World War I. It says they were victims of partisan fighting that claimed even more Turkish Muslim lives as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.
Several countries have passed resolutions in the past recognizing the Armenian genocide, sparking Ankara’s ire and brief trade boycotts, but a French bill would go further by imposing a heavy fine or imprisonment for genocide denial.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper also upset Ankara recently by referring to the Armenian massacres as “genocide.”
“Our ambassadors to Paris and Ottawa, Osman Koruturk and Aydemir Erman, have been called to Ankara for a short period for consultations regarding recent developments over the baseless Armenian genocide claims in France and Canada,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan said in a statement. Tan said the ambassadors were expected to return to their posts after the consultations. He gave no further details.
Meanwhile, 23 minors went on trial yesterday in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir over deadly rioting that shook Turkey’s restive southeastern region a month ago.
They are the first batch out of 80 youths to appear in court on charges ranging from membership of an armed group — a reference to the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) — to violating the law on demonstrations. The remaining minors were expected to be brought to court in groups throughout the week.
