Armenian nationalist Aris Babikian appointed Canadian Citizenship Judge

Aris Babikian, the former executive director of the Armenian National Committee of Canada has been appointed as citizenship judge for a three-year full-time term. This was announced by Canada’s Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney on 24 June 2009. Babikian will serve as the new Citizenship Judge in Mississauga, Ontario which is adjacent to Toronto where a lot of immigrants reside.

He will be responsible for making decisions regarding citizenship applications, presiding over citizenship ceremonies and administering the oath of citizenship to new citizens.

Babikian, a Lebanese Armenian, prior to the appointment has worked as the director of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, whose activities served the interests of Armenian community. He also was closely associated with the «Dashnaktsutyun» and was openly directed against the Turks and Azerbaijanis. Babikian, introducing himself as a journalist, is well known for his openly racist remarks against the Turks and Azerbaijanis. His extremist position causes discontent even among the Armenians themselves.

The above-mentioned Committee (ANCC), consists mainly of radical Dashnaks, organize their own «Genocide» days thus causing resentment of other Armenian organizations, in particular, the Congress of Canadian Armenians. In April this year, the Congress even issued a press release accusing ANCC of splitting the Armenian community. Despite all this, Babikian has access to all sectors of the Canadian political establishment due to money and power of the Armenian community, in particular, Dashnaks.

Generally, Armenians have a strong position in Canada. It should also be noted that in Canada there are many Armenians who are in favor of the development of relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan, but they cannot find their path within the political establishment, and are frequently ostracized by their communities.  

Babikian’s appointment as a judge is a matter of serious concern to the Azerbaijani and Turkish communities in Canada. Though this post is almost formal, but the appointment of the radical, like Babikyan is unacceptable. Meanwhile, he is well-known by his connection with Dashnaks from Armenia and the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, and Dashnaks are known for their involvement in many terrorist acts.

Terrorism in Canada began with the Armenian extremists. Stewart Bell and Rohan Gunaratna in their book “Cold Terror: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terrorism around the World” note that “the Armenian terrorists were the first who realized the potential of Canada as an offshore base of terrorism in the eighties”. According to them, “ASALA was the first to bring international terrorism to Canada, and it was treated not with resolve but with sympathy”.

In the eighties the Armenians carried out two terrorist attacks against Turkish diplomats. One of them - the murder of a Turkish military attache - still not disclosed. In the Turkish community people consider that if the killers directly involved in this criminal act might have left the country a long time ago, but the organizers and their inspirers still quietly roam in Canada. The abovementioned experts in Canada claim there is rather an indifferent attitude to the terrorists and extremists, as they do not affect Canadian territory. While Armenians have stopped terrorist activity in Canada (as well as in the United States and Europe) - they moved the center of gravity to Azerbaijan.  

The Armenian nationalists would not have been so confident in Canada if they did not have prominent supporters. One of these people is Jason Kenney. In 2008, Kenny was awarded “man of the year” by the Armenian community of Canada. It is linked with his name that the current Canadian government - the only one in the world - has recognized the Armenian “Genocide”. In 2004, a decision was taken by Parliament, but this decision was not binding. Members of the government of that period led by Paul Martin voted against the decision.

One of the obstacles in introducing the Azerbaijani and Turkish communities’ views is generally accepted stereotypes. In Canadian media Armenians’ criticism is the subject of the taboo. It may seem to us that in Canada there is a complete media freedom - rather, it   refers to the peripheral publications. With regard to television and national newspapers an article or TV programme criticizing the Armenians, could have a negative impact on the career of a journalist. The negative perception of the Turks or Azeris-Muslims allegedly running roughshod over the Armenian-Christians, easily finds appropriate responses. Information that Azerbaijan is a secular country, which hosts the President of Israel, does not fit the picture painted by Armenian lobby.

An Azerbaijani reader might wonder - our perception (again, a stereotype) about Canada is rather different. For many the country is a place of “super-liberalism”, snowy climate, and hockey. In Azerbaijan, there are many fans of Canadian hockey. Even in Soviet times, some of our fans were supporting Canada against the USSR (perhaps it was an anti-imperialist complex). We know Canada as a country adhering to the spirit of fairness and peace. That is why many American tourists traveling around the world with a backpack with a Canadian flag.

Alas, Canada is far from the romantic image, inspiring us with its past. In recent years the country has been radicalized enough. Perhaps this is due to the influx of immigrants. The role of religion, particularly Christianity, is now playing a greater role in foreign and domestic policy. It is due to the «Christian Solidarity» that motivated Armenians found a necessary thread that well connected them with a certain range of the political establishment. And, as you know, foreign policy comes from the inside. Therefore, the appointment of an Armenian-chauvinist as the immigration judge should not be surprising. However, there are criterias that can not be overstepped: racist and chauvinist cannot be a judge.

The influence of ethnic lobbies and ethnic communities in Canadian policy has been recently the subject of serious debate. The reason for this was the demonstration of Tamils in the capital of Canada, which required the Canadian government to pressure the Government of Sri Lanka so that they cease military operations against military formations of Tamils. A few days of well organized Tamil demonstrators blocked traffic in the city center. Following these events, many politicians began to talk, that it is necessary to carefully analyze and take appropriate steps with regard to ethnic lobbies and organizations. Canada should not become an arena for the struggle of immigrants from various ethnic groups.

So far, the people responsible for this case, as the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney does everything the wrong way, causing animosity between Armenians and Turks.