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PM cancels Argentina visit over Armenian interference
Erdoğan traveled to the Chilean capital of Santiago from Brazil, skipping a planned two-day visit to Argentina.
“The reason for the cancellation of the Argentina visit is the cancellation of written permission given earlier by the Ministry of Environment and Public Space of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires for an Atatürk Monument that was to be inaugurated at the Jorge Newbery Park, following attempts by Armenian circles who are hostile to Turkey,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement released on early Sunday morning.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Third Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations, held in Rio de Janerio, told his Argentinean counterpart, Jorge Taiana, that the Argentinean government should fulfill the promise made to Turkey concerning the unveiling of the memorial, the statement said.
It noted that Argentina’s President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner called Erdoğan expressing understanding but explained that the Autonomous Buenos Aires Administration’s decision cannot be overruled by the federal government due to Argentina’s constitution.
Following this explanation, Erdoğan told her that he found this unacceptable no matter what the reason was and cancelled the visit, the Foreign Ministry said. During talks between the Argentinean and Turkish sides and due the Turkish side’s firm insistence on keeping to the original agenda of the visit, Kirchner also tried to persuade the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires to return to the original agenda, Today’s Zaman learned from reliable sources, yet these efforts failed.
Argentina is home to the third-largest Armenian diaspora community following the United States and France. In the past, a monument of Atatürk was removed after pressure by the Armenian community.
In November 2006, the lower house of Argentina’s parliament adopted a resolution recognizing the killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I as “genocide.” In January 2007, in a move that brought applause from the Armenian diaspora, then-Argentinean President Néstor Kirchner approved a draft law proclaiming April 24 “the day of tolerance and respect.”
The inauguration of the monument was requested from Erdoğan personally by President Kirchner during correspondence between the two sides at the planning stage of the visit, Today’s Zaman learned from high-level sources.
The meetings held while Argentinean and Turkish officials were trying to resolve the crisis prevented Erdoğan from participating in several scheduled programs such as the inauguration of “The Ottoman Worldview from Piri Reis to Katip Çelebi,” an exhibition of maps depicting some of the most significant contributions to Ottoman geography and cartography, in Rio de Janeiro. The exhibition was instead opened by Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay.
Erdoğan also abandoned his plan to watch a match between Flamengo and Gremio in the fifth round of the Brazilian championship played at the Maracana stadium, while Chilean officials responded positively to the Turkish delegation’s request to start the visit to Chile a day earlier than planned.
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