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Egoyan lauds PM´s stand on Armenia

Thu, May 11, 2006

By JENNIFER DITCHBURN, CP

OTTAWA — Filmmaker Atom Egoyan, perhaps the most famous Canadian of Armenian decent, praised Prime Minister Stephen Harper for his controversial recognition of the Armenian genocide.

“I think the Harper government has taken a courageous stand in its early days on several issues that could have faded into history but bear scrutiny,” Egoyan said yesterday.

“It’s interesting to me that very often Conservative governments seem to be more morally responsible than one might imagine.”

Harper became the first Canadian prime minister to publicly declare the deaths of about 1.5 million Armenians during the First World War constituted a genocide.

The remark has caused a diplomatic row with the Turkish government, including that country’s withdrawal from an international military exercise in Canada.

The Turkish media have speculated Canada could be prevented from competing for the lucrative sale of reactors for Turkey’s first nuclear plant.

Egoyan, who devoted his 2002 film Ararat to the issue of an Armenian genocide, says he has faced plenty of pressure from the Turkish government over his film and his views — and he doesn’t think governments or individuals should bend on recognition.

“Ultimately, I believe that the only way to have any sort of move on this issue is to try and seek recognition from as many different places as possible and isolate the Turkish government,” Egoyan said. “That’s the only way change will be effected.”

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