The staff of the Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations has issued the press release on Crisis in Caucasus, especially on Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan.
We have been witnessing an escalation of tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia lately, and unfortunately, now it turned into an armed conflict in the Armenian occupied regions of Azerbaijan.
In the early 1990s, Armenia occupied more than 20% of Azerbaijani soil and forced around a million Azeris out of their homelands, making them internally displaced persons. The negotiations to find a peaceful resolution to this situation have not proved fruitful in the last 30 years.
Unable to withstand the recent Azerbaijani counteroffensive, the Armenian lobbying groups in Canada have initiated a series of actions against Azerbaijan and Turkey on Parliament Hill.
Although Azeris and Turks have common cultural and historical ties, Turkey is not a part of the ongoing conflict in the Caucasus.
Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations (FCTA) fears that false accusations and allegations against Turkey and Turks hurt the multicultural mosaic of Canadian Society. FCTA, therefore asks our Government, politicians, and media to stop rewarding the aggressor Armenia, to show a more unbiased approach to either side and to support the restoration of the peace process under the Madrid Principles which both Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to.
FCTA would like to emphasize that:
The current conflict in the Caucasus is a direct result of the Armenian invasion of Azeri territories in the 1990s and ethnic cleansing of Azeris in occupied territory.
There are four United Nations (UN) resolutions calling Armenia to withdraw from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan. (Namely, resolutions 822, 853, 874, and 884) Now Azerbaijan is fighting for its own territory illegally seized by Armenia in 1993.
As a UN member-state, Azerbaijan reserves the right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter and is simply exercising its right to protect its civilian population and restore control over its territory.
The OSCE Minsk Group recognizes and supports Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and denounces the violation of international borders by Armenia.
Canada's current stance might have significant negative consequences on the functioning of NATO, the relationship between two NATO allies, and Canadian-Turkish bilateral trade relations.
That is not acceptable for the Canadian-Turkish community; In fact, should not be acceptable for any Canadian taxpayers/citizens' interest at all.
FCTA asks that the Canadian government take measures to assist Armenia in the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions and denounce and reject the anti-Turkish stance supported by Armenian diaspora and other lobbying groups.
