Letter to Trudeau by The Turkish-Canadian Associations
Since the beginning of the resumption of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and despite the fact that Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijani territories for almost thirty years, the Western parliaments have sided with Armenia.
As the misinformation by the lobbying of the Armenian-Canadian and Greek-Canadian organizations continues, the associations of the Turkish community of Canada have written a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to draw attention and act for the well-being of the different communities living in Canada, in particular members of the Turkish and Azerbaijani communities who are under attack.
Here is the letter that the associations sent to Prime Minister Trudeau:
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,
We, as the undersigned Turkish-Canadian organizations representing strong and vibrant Turkish-Canadian community, are writing to you as our Prime Minister to emphasize our concerns about the ongoing disinformation campaign in Canada with regard to the recent developments in the South Caucasus.
Unfortunately, this campaign, spearheaded by Armenian-Canadian and Greek-Canadian organizations, became a tool to demonize Turks and Azerbaijanis. Our community feels that our voice is not being heard proportionally by the public. We are particularly disappointed that several Canadian politicians and media outlets have also been influenced by this one-sided approach and escalating the tension without considering the possible dangerous outcomes.
As you would be aware, the hatred encouraged by these organizations recently led to violence against Turkish-Canadians and Azerbaijani-Canadians. We are extremely worried that these groups are importing their ethnic and religious grievances into Canada, damaging the progressive, multicultural and diverse fabric of our society.
We, as proud Canadians, want to continue to live peacefully in this country, without worrying about ethnic and religious hatred against us. Therefore, we call our Prime Minister and Government;
To take every necessary step to stop this hatred campaign and avoid future violence against Turkish-Canadians and Azerbaijani-Canadians,
To support and actively work towards a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in line with the relevant UN Security Council and UN General Assembly resolutions, (UN Security Council Resolutions (1993) 822, 853, 874, 884, UN General Assembly Resolution (2008) 62/243),
To carefully monitor Armenian-Canadian organizations’ fundraisings, not to channel tax deductible Canadian funds to armed groups or other organizations that aims to change demographics of the occupied territories under the disguise of humanitarian aid,
To assume a balanced approach with regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, by regular dialogue with both sides,
To start a government humanitarian support program to help improving livelihoods of one million Azerbaijanis that were forced out of their homes after Armenia’s invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding Azerbaijani regions in 1990s,
To condemn Armenia’s missile attacks on civilian populations in Azerbaijani cities that are far away from the front-line. We see these inhuman assaults as Armenian attempts to spread the conflict into wider international level,
To work with international actors, including NATO ally Turkey, in a constructive manner to end conflicts and build a prosperous future in the South Caucasus.
Our Government has responsibility to make sure Canada’s multi-cultural mosaic will not be harmed by imported hatred and disinformation campaigns. Our organizations believe that Canada’s peaceful approach to uphold international law, and unbiased approach to address humanitarian sufferings in South Caucasus should guide Canadian society in this case.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
· The Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations
· Canadian Association for Solidarity of Turks from Bulgaria
· Turquebec Cultural and Friendship Association
· Turkish Cultural Association of Montreal
· Canadian Turkish Platform
· Montreal Turkish Center
· Turkish Association of Canada
· Turkish Canadian Society of Edmonton
· Canadian Association of Turkish Professionals
· Turkish Canadian Cultural Association
· Canadian Turkish Cultural and Islamic Centre, Calgary
· Canadian Turkish Educational and Cultural Foundation, Vancouver
· Turkish Society of Canada
· Ankara Library of Toronto
· Canadian Turkish Community Centre
· Turkish Culture and Folklore Society of Canada
· Turkish Canadian Cultural Association of Calgary
· Canadian Azerbaijani Turkish Cultural Association
· Turkish Entrepreneurs and Professionals Association of Canada
· Istanbul Technical University Alumni Association of Canada
Notre Anatolie / Bizim Anadolu Newspaper / October 29th, 2020
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