“Canada Shouldn’t Renounce Genocide Policy”
April 9, 2013
Canada shouldn’t renounce genocide policy
Vancouver Sun, Letter to the Editor, 9 April 2013
Re: Turkey says Canada’s genocide policy may hinder free-trade deal, web only, April 7
As Turkish ambassador to Canada Tuncay Babali tried to “make clear” that Canada should backtrack on its moral stance on the Armenian genocide to proceed with economic co-operation, Canadians will respond with an absolute “no.”
Canadians have played an integral part in humanitarian efforts toward Armenians since the 1800s.
For instance, Nova Scotia nurse Sara Corning saved 5,000 Armenian children orphaned during the genocide from further destruction in 1922, as Turkish forces set the city of Smyrna ablaze.
The Armenian genocide has been reaffirmed politically and historically for decades. It is in Turkey where the issue continues to be taboo and cause for many intellectuals to be imprisoned, in violation of their rights and freedoms.
Imagine a Germany where Hitler is a hero and the memory of Oskar Schindler in oblivion.
Turkey continues to lionize the architects of genocide while the story of brave Turks who saved Armenian lives withers in the overbearing silence and oppression.
Canada’s values and morals are not for sale; rather they are ingrained in Canadian society and very much a part of every Canadian citizen.
Raffi Sarkissian, Sara Corning Centre for Genocide Education, Toronto, Ont.