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Open Letter to the President of The National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada Mr. Saras, As you are aware, the murder of our colleague Hrant Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin who was Editor-in-Chief of the Turkish-Armenian language publication Agos newspaper, was a horribly unacceptable crime. This crime was rightfully comdemned by all civilized circles aroung the world. As a media organization, you were also completely within your rights to react strongly to such a ruthless and despicable act. And, as you will surely agree, nowhere was this act condemned as strongly as it was in Turkey it-self, where hundreds of thousands of Turks flooded the streets in protest and chanted collectively: "We are all Armenians, we are all Hrant Dink". However, the fact that your media organization, which is a federation of media organs that are run by people that come from the four corners of the world, went beyond what is considered a legitimate level of condemnation of the perpetrators and used its position to spread racist hate propaganda about Turkish people in general, could, as you are undoubtedly aware, be considered a crime under Canadian criminal law and is also a violation of the applicable human rights laws in our country. Not surprisingly, Mr. Saras, racism is forbidden in Canada. Despite this, you saw fit to express blatant racism through notably, the following remark: "This act of wanton barbarism is an outstanding example of the criminal mentality and culture of this country that weighs against the principles of free expression and the rights of the minorities living under the Turkish administration." What's more, you invited the European Union to "...to disassociate themselves from the fascist establishment of Ankara and terminate immediately every negotiation with Turkey regarding admission of Turkey to European Family...". These statements were not made in a private context either, it was a public declaration by the president of a media organization that encompasses hundreds of different media organs that represent different ethnic communities. As such, you implicated all these organizations in your racist and hateful tirade against the people of an entire nation. We therefore demand that you apologize to the nation of Turkey for your racist and hateful attacks as well as the nation of Canada for violating the values of tolerance and anti-racism that are an integral part of its Constitution. Furthermore, considering that these attacks have irremediably undermined your credibility as the leader of the The National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada, we demand that you resign from your position immediately. Sincerely, Ömer F. Özen March 2007 Old editorials: |
