Members of the Turkish Community Want Their Voices To Be Heard

Every year, around 24th of April, hatred propaganda rises towards Turkey as well as Turkish Community, not only in Canada but also in other countries.

Members of the Turkish Community have written letters to the Members of the Parliament that represent their regions in the Parliament, hoping that the they would consider the Community's concerns and will to live in peace, away from all the hatred, discrimination and racism.

The members of the Turkish Community who want the history to be interpreted correctly, tried to mirror their concerns to the Prime Minister and the related ministries and members of the Parliament. Here is what one of these letters said:

I am one of your constituents and am writing to voice a major concern of Turkish Canadians, specifically the desire of our community to be treated as equal citizens of Canada.

As Turkish Canadians, we are proud of our harmonious existence and valued contributions to Canadian society. Unfortunately, despite our positive efforts, our children are bullied, we face slander and hate-propaganda, and our freedom of expression is often threatened.

This anti-Turkish movement in Canada stems from a tragic period in Ottoman history that continues to be a topic of debate amongst scholars. About a hundred years ago, when the Ottoman Empire was in a state of breakdown and the World War I was raging, a number of countries surged in to take a piece of the dying Empire. The Armenian population living in the Eastern Anatolia also wanted to take advantage of the great dismantlement and attempted to set up a national state with the help of invading forces of Russia, France and England. This caused the Ottoman government to relocate the revolting Armenians away from the war zone. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died en route due to the revengeful attacks of the locals, wartime conditions, harsh weather and disease.

This hundred-year-old war is the basis of an ongoing accusation of Turkish people's forefathers with the severe crime of "genocide." Genocide is not a generic term to describe a grave human atrocity; it is a clearly defined crime in international law and Canadian law. It has to be investigated by historians, archivists and forensic scientists; and then properly addressed in an International Court of Justice. Without a scholarly consensus or a legal decision, ultra-nationalist Armenian groups continue trying to gain political support for their version of history; to date, their efforts have been successful in Canada.

For the last four years, the Government of Canada has been supporting the Armenian version of history by giving a verdict on the accusation of genocide, although many reputable historians, including Canadian scholars, refute the genocide thesis. This is deeply hurtful to us.

This era was a tragic period in which too many innocent Turks, Armenians, and others lost their lives. We have to understand and respect the memory of all those who perished and draw the right lessons from history. However, this cannot be achieved by lending exclusive support to one side.

We believe that Canada's support of the recently signed protocols between Turkey and Armenia, which recommend forming a historical commission to study the tragic events of World War I, will not only increase the chance of peace between these two nations, but also between Canadians of Turkish and Armenian descents. Canada's promotion of this constructive process for a much needed reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia will help all of us here in Canada to build a future together.

In this regard, I ask that you and your party to join in this positive momentum by supporting the reconciliation process and by calling on Armenian Canadians and Turkish Canadians to come together in peaceful co-existence and remembrance of their collective losses. Most importantly, I ask you to refrain from passing judgment by using the term genocide on this yet-to-be fully investigated tragedy.

I thank you for your attention, your open-minded approach and your support for building greater peace between the Armenian and Turkish communities of Canada.

April 2010