ANKARA (Hurriyet Daily News)—Turkish Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin has urged Canada to change its government position on the Armenian Genocide, requesting its parliament not adopt this year’s annual resolution in April.

“Our wish is not [to see] new problems this April,” Şahin said during a joint press conference with his visiting Canadian counterpart, Noel Kinsella.

The Canadian Parliament recognized the Genocide in 2004. The government later approved the parliamentary recognition as well, prompting Turkey to temporarily recall its ambassador to Canada and threaten the viability of economic ties. Relations between the two states normalized shortly after.

“The incidents of 1915 should be evaluated scientifically and objectively. The protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia target this,” Şahin said, referring to a Turkish precondition to set up a historical commission to call into question the veracity of the Genocide.

Şahin said that nearly 50,000 Turks live in Canada and that “they are civilized humans who contribute to the stability and the development of Canada. I want to believe that the Canadian government and its officials will not make a move that could hurt Turkish citizens.”

For his part, Kinsella said there was a need to take lessons from history so as not to harm others.

“A sad event was experienced in the past; the international community could look at a specific date to ponder the issue,” he said, without making other references to the Genocide.