Turkey recalls ambassador....Canada stands up for truth....

Good for Canada on this one...

Turkey recalled its ambassador to Canada, an official said Wednesday, after government ministers there reportedly took part in an event that labeled the Ottoman-era killings of Armenians as genocide.

Ambassador Rafet Akgunay returned to Ankara for consultations, the government official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with journalists on the subject. He did not say why Akgunay was recalled or for how long.

Turkey is upset, however, that Canadian officials reportedly attended an event Monday commemorating the deaths Armenians at the end of World War I as genocide. Hurriyet newspaper said the event in Ottowa was reportedly organized to mark the fifth anniversary of a vote in Canada's parliament to recognize the killings as genocide.

It is the second time that Turkey has recalled its ambassador to Canada over the genocide dispute. In 2006, Turkey criticized Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper for remarks he made in support of recognizing the mass killings as genocide and briefly withdrew its ambassador. It also pulled out of a military exercise in Canada in protest.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks _ an event widely viewed by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, contending the toll has been inflated and the casualties were victims of civil war and unrest.