Speech delivered by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the Honourable Peter MacKay on Turkish-Canadian relations during the inauguration ceremony of the Parliamentary Canada Turkey Friendship Association at the Turkish Embassy Residence on 18 October 2006

Maurice, Colleagues from the House of Commons, Mr. Ambassador and Mrs. Erman,

I am extremely pleased to be here for this very special occasion which is the inauguration of the Parliamentary Canada Turkey Friendship Association.

It is fair to say that there has long been a very strong and a binding friendship and we know that this will continue. As was mentioned in both the remarks of the Ambassador and my colleague Maurice Vellacott we have had a historic history whether it be as NATO allies, a number of important missions, Kosova was mentioned, of course we fought side by side in Korea which is timely given the world events today. And again in Afghanistan and we are continuing to work together as we speak. And as we were discussing with you Ambassador, in Afghanistan, I look forward to hearing more from you Ambassador given your knowledge and appreciation of the challenges in the region.

And of course we share common goals and aspirations as two young countries two countries that are moving ahead in the modern era. This is more than just a government to government

This past summer, the government of Turkey, and even more significantly, the people of Turkey, welcomed with open arms Canadians who were stranded in Lebanon and at a very difficult time Canadians needed to escape, needed to leave to a more ravish area and the people of Turkey were there as they disembarked from the choppy waters of the Mediterranean. It was those images that I will not forget as the Minister of Foreign Affairs working with the officials at the time, those images of Canadians being greeted. After a heroin trip there were children meeting them on the docks with flowers in their hands and the warm embrace Canadians received from Turkish people were a wonderful symbol of the binding, significant and important relations that exist between our two countries so I want to take this opportunity to really thank you Mr. Ambassador and thank the people of Turkey for their gracious help to Canada this past summer. I expressed these sentiments at the UN General Assembly to your Minister, Foreign Minister Mr. Gul. I hope certainly to have the opportunity to express these sentiments again

Now later this month, Turkey will celebrate the 83rd anniversary of the founding of the republic.  Turkey's accomplishments in that short time, since the dark days of the First World War and the hard fought battles that led to the creation of modern Turkey, these are truly remarkable accomplishments. 

And we should all remember, indeed, that they were dark and difficult days.

During the war, specifically in 1915, too many civilians in Anatolia, Anatolia area, too many suffered.  The suffering of the Armenians in eastern Anatolia is a sad and tragic chapter of human history.  And remembering, so much can be learned so that humanity can learn, so that it never happens again. Openness and transparency are certainly not just watchwords for Canada’s new Government. In fact, we believe that we must act on these important principles.

This is why my government supports the Turkish government’s practical proposal to establish a joint committee composed of Turkish and Armenian historians as well as historians from  third countries to look into the events of 1915, and encourages the Government of Armenia to participate in this committee. 

Since the founding of the republic in 1923, Turkey has built a strong and vibrant and modern democracy, democracy that has worked in a part of the world where the odds were often against it.  As a Muslim country with strong democratic institutions that work, Turkey should be very proud and indeed should be looked upon and looked to by its neighbours as an example.

But just as we here in Canada work hard to perfect our democracy to improve the lives of all our citizens, we will continue to encourage Turkey and work with Turkey as it strives to perfect its democracy to improve the lives of all of its citizens.  

Mr. Ambassador, I will just conclude by thanking you again for the invitation to be with you and for all of our colleagues who are with us this evening. We are indeed very proud of our relationship with Turkey.

The hospitality of Turkey is world famous and you have certainly confirmed that again this evening.  And I will look forward to visiting Turkey in the near future perhaps with my colleague and others from the House of Commons. I want to see its historic cities, its beautiful landscape, its wonderful coastal communities like Mersin where we have seen images of Canadians landing and so again we very much appreciate your efforts for hosting us here tonight you and your lovely wife and we congratulate you on the establishment of this important work, Canada Turkey Friendship Group.  

Finally, Ambassador, friends:  Iyi Bayramlar  Happy Holidays