Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin has urged Canada to change its policies recognizing Armenian genocide claims, requesting that the country’s Parliament not adopt more resolutions on the same issue in April.
“Our wish is not [to see] new problems this April,” Şahin said during a joint press conference with his visiting Canadian counterpart, Noel Kinsella.
The Canadian Parliament recognized the 1915 killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as genocide in 2004. The parliamentary recognition was later approved by the government as well, prompting severe reaction from Turkey. However, because the Canadian government later softened its comments on the issue, relations have improved between the two in recent years.
“The incidents of 1915 should be evaluated scientifically and objectively. The protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia target this,” Şahin said.
Noting that nearly 50,000 Turkish citizens are living in Canada, Şahin said: “They are civilized humans who contribute to the stability and the development of Canada. I want to believe that the Canadian government and its officials will not make a move that could hurt Turkish citizens.”
For his part, Kinsella said there was a need to take lessons from history so as not to harm others.
“A sad event was experienced in the past; the international community could look at a specific date to ponder the issue,” he said, without making direct references to the genocide claims.
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