G20 Human Rights Action

The people of Armenia historically inhabited what is now Eastern Turkey and for four hundred years were under the rule of the Ottoman Empire In 1915, the Ottoman Empire committed the first Genocide of the 20^th century when it systematically exterminated over 1.5 million Armenians.

On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman Empire, under the Young Turk government, rounded up and killed an estimated two hundred and fifty Armenian intellectuals and notables.  Able-bodied Armenian men were drafted into the military, where they were killed by their own officers.  The elderly, women, and children were then uprooted from their homes and forced to march into the Syrian desert – supposedly to their safety – and en route the defenseless civilian population were killed, raped, starved, drowned, poisoned and bludgeoned by the soldiers who were pretending to safeguard them.  Many children and women were also sold or forcibly converted to Islam against threats of execution and rape.

Canada, along with another twenty five countries and over forty U.S. states, have recognized the Armenian Genocide.  Turkey, however, has mounted pressure on the Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul and continues to deny and ignore the Armenian Genocide committed by its former regime even to this day.  This includes the restless lobbying of foreign governments to remain silent about the Genocide, going so far as to threaten them with economic or military consequences if they do not comply. The Republic of Turkey also restricts any mention of the Genocide within its borders through Article 301 of its Penal Code, which makes it illegal to “insult the Turkish nation”.

Such denial of human rights by the Turkish government to its citizens, whether past or present, cannot be tolerated if we are to achieve mutual understanding and harmony.  Canada, a peacekeeping nation which has already recognized the Genocide, should encourage other nations to also recognize the Genocide of 1915-1923 and exert pressure on Turkey to recognize its own past and remedy the injustices it has committed upon its people.  Denial of these facts can, and has, led to the continuing persecution of minorities in Turkey, highlighted by the 2007 assassination of journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul.

We ask that you to take a moment to petition Prime Minister Harper Stephen Harper, President Lee Myung-bak and Prime Minister Chung Un-chan of The Republic of Korea to bring these issues to the G20 Summit taking place in, Korea, November 11-12, 2010.

Dear Prime Minister Harper Stephen Harper of Canada,  President Lee Myung-bak and Prime Minister Chung Un-chan of The Republic of Korea:

As you are aware, the Turkish government is still in a state of denial over the Genocide it committed against the Armenian people from 1915-1923 under the Young Turk regime. This denial and lack of action or consequences from international bodies has taken away from the gravity of the events and has allowed the continued oppression of minorities in the Republic of Turkey.

I ask of you to take advantage of the upcoming G20 Summit in Toronto to bring this matter into the summit agenda by raising the following three issues:

1. Re-affirming recognition of the Armenian Genocide and encouraging nations that have not yet recognized it to do so;
2. Pressing Turkey to stop the denial and not only recognize but to also provide restitution for the injustices it committed during the Genocide, including re-opening the blockaded border; and,
3. Urging the Turkish government to cease its oppression of minorities by extending support to Christian Patriarchates and repealing Article 301 of its Penal Code.

I would like to thank you in advance for your consideration, as well as express my gratitude for the progressive and visionary stance you have adopted with respect to this issue by recognizing the Armenian Genocide.  I look forward to seeing you represent the concerns of Canadian citizens expressed above on the international stage in June at the upcoming G20 Summit.