ARMENIAN ‘GENOCIDE’ BECOMES OPTIONAL COURSE IN TORONTO
Today’s Zaman
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June 5 2008
Turkey
The Toronto District School Board has given the green light for
the study of an alleged genocide of Armenians in the final years of
the Ottoman Empire in an optional course, the Anatolia news agency
reported.
The course, titled "Crimes and Genocides Committed against Humanity,"
will include studies of the Holocaust, which saw the extermination of
6 million Jews during World War II, the Rwandan slaughter of nearly 1
million Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994 and the killings of Anatolian
Armenians at the beginning of the last century.
A petition campaign was launched by Turks living in Canada opposing the
decision in Toronto to include the alleged Armenian genocide in the
course. Nevertheless, the Toronto District School Board disregarded
the 11,000 petitions collected in the online campaign, Anatolia
reported. In January, the Unity Group, consisting of several Turkish
NGOs in Canada, said the course would put the safety of Turkish and
Muslim students at risk. The group called on authorities to reverse
the decision to include the course in the 2008-2009 curriculum.
The course will still need to go to a vote of the full board of
trustees before it receives final approval, the Canadian media
reported, while Anatolia said there was a three-week period for
appealing the school board’s decision.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
