Why does Turkey hate Canadians?

September 23, 2007 4:21 PM

Why does Turkey seem to have a special hate-on for Canada?

For years (at least ten) Canadians getting a Turkish visa are in a special "fuck you" class all on their own, the price being USD70. Almost every other nationality pays 20 or 30 bucks, and there is no country even close to this very special Canadian price.

So what did Canada do to Turkey? I am guessing that maybe we are big on Armenian / Kurdish refugees, is that part of it? Anyone have any concrete info on this irksome phenomena?

posted by Meatbomb to travel & transportation (13 comments total)

Visa fees are usually reciprocal. How much is a Canadian visa for a Turkish citizen?
posted by donajo at 4:41 PM on September 23, 2007

Maybe they're trying to butter up the European Union, which they've been trying to get into for 50 years, and which is mad at Canada for not allowing some newer EU members visa-free admission?
posted by nicwolff at 4:46 PM on September 23, 2007

We have Atom Egoyan?

More seriously, these things usually amount to little more than reciprocity. The rate for Turks coming to Canada is $75 single-entry and $150 multiple entry--which is very similar to the rate for Canadians going to Turkey.
posted by jacquilynne at 4:53 PM on September 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Might be related to Cyprus--
Operation SNOWGOOSE is Canada's contribution to the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), which began in 1964 as a battalion-sized contingent of peacekeepers and was maintained as such until 1993. UNFICYP's mandate is to monitor the cease-fire between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and to patrol a demarcation line across the island.

In the over forty years of peacekeeping in Cyprus, more than 25,000 CF members have served with the Canadian contingent. Canada still provides UNFICYP headquarters at Nicosia with one CF staff officer working in Operations.
posted by acro at 5:12 PM on September 23, 2007

On the Atom Egoyan tip, maybe we've been to vocal about certain "alleged" genocides in thier part of the world in the previous Century? That issue seems to have been at the core of many otherwise petty dipomatic disuptes between Turkey and other states.
posted by onshi at 5:13 PM on September 23, 2007

There are approximately 80-100 thousand people in the Armenian community in Canada. The activities of the Armenian community against Turkey are the only factor that causes tension in our bilateral relations. In fact, the adoption of the So-called Armenian Genocide Resolution (M-380) by the House of Commons on April 21, 2004, despite all our warnings and efforts, opened the door to the beginning of a problematic period. (Turkish Embassy to Canada)

That's all I can figure out.
posted by blacklite at 5:27 PM on September 23, 2007

CBC story from April 25, 2004 on the bill.
posted by blacklite at 5:30 PM on September 23, 2007

When I was buying my (exorbitant) Turkish visa, I was told that the high price was 100% reciprocal; that is, Canada charged a high price for visas to Turks.
posted by goingonit at 5:50 PM on September 23, 2007

I was told that the high price was 100% reciprocal

Ah, but who started the price war? The quote blacklite posted perhaps suggests it was Turkey.
posted by epimorph at 6:04 PM on September 23, 2007

Turks applying for USA visas pay a $100 non-immigrant visa machine-readable visa application fee, while USA-ians applying for Turkish visas pay only $20. So much for reciprocity.
posted by msittig at 8:29 PM on September 23, 2007

The lira and the dollar will reach parity soon and then it will be reciprocal enough.
posted by Jenga at 9:28 PM on September 23, 2007

I have to say, visa fees are NOT always reciprocal.

For example, it costs about $15 for an American to get a tourist visa to enter Egypt. You can get it at the airport when you arrive. No big deal. But for an Egyptian just to apply to get a tourist visa to come here it's around $150, you have to wait a while for it to be processed, and it's nearly impossible for the average citizen to be approved to come here just for vacation. The American consulate requires that they show bank account statements and documents to prove that they have strong ties in Egypt, they have to be interviewed and generally should have letters of invitation from a reputable source, all sorts of things... and even with all of that we are very likely to deny their application and keep the nonrefundable fee.

I know this because I have invited Egyptian friends to visit & stay at my house in return for their hospitality when I was in their country. I found out that it's impossible to return the favor, which really upsets me.
posted by miss lynnster at 9:30 PM on September 23, 2007

It sounds like, on balance, it isn't as much a reciprocity issue (it is harder for developing countries to travel to the west, generally), and more to do with all of our Armenians raising prickly issues. Thanks for the input, guys.
posted by Meatbomb at 1:34 AM on September 24, 2007