April 21, 2004 - 20:35 AMT
TODAY CANADIAN PARLIAMENT TO VOTE ON RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN OTTOMAN TURKEY
Today the Canadian parliament is to vote on the M-380 resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915. As reported by the Armenian National Committee of Canada, during yesterday's debates the deputies of different political parties almost unanimously - with the exception of Moris Velakute, whom the parliamentarians call "Turkish spokesman" - supported the document. According to the authority, Turkish Ambassador appealed to the Canadian MPs with a letter, in which he asked to refrain from the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, as, in his words, it will damage Turkish-Canadian relations. In his turn, Armenian Ambassador Ara Papian in a letter addressed to the Canadian deputies, spoke against the initiative of his Turkish colleague.