ANC Australia asks you to join us in requesting a public correction from the ABC for its constant use of
ALLEGED when referring to the Armenian Genocide in a documentary last week.
BACKGROUNDOn Thursday 28 August, the
ABC's Family Footsteps program broadcast the story of Joanna Kambourian, an Armenian-Australian who travelled back to the homeland of her ancestors to explore the rich culture of the Armenian people and the tragic history of the Armenian Genocide.
The program covered Joanna's journey as she learnt the ancient language, customs and history of the Armenian people. She also discovered the reality of the Armenian Genocide - an attempt to erase the Armenian people, their cities, churches and homes. The coverage also included a meeting between Joanna and an Armenian Genocide Historian who explained that in 1915 under the cover of WWI the Turks began a systematic genocide of the Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire.
Unfortunately, throughout the program the narrator referred to the Armenian Genocide as the
'alleged' Armenian Genocide.
'Alleged' has become a qualifier used by Armenian Genocide deniers to distort and blur the historical accuracy and reality of the Armenian Genocide.
The Armenian Genocide has been classed as a foremost example of Genocide; it has been condemned by the International Association of Genocide Scholars and by the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. In media, the term Armenian Genocide is used to describe the events of 1915 by prestigious media outlets including the New York Times, LA Times, The Washington Post and The Australian. The Armenian Genocide has been recognised and condemned in Australia by the State Parliament of NSW, and internationally by prominent governments including those of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Russia, Switzerland and Argentina.
It is only in Turkey that restrictions apply to the use of the term Armenian Genocide. Under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, individuals, intellectuals, journalist and publishers can be prosecuted for insulting Turkey. Thus qualifiers such as 'alleged' or 'so called' are placed before mentioning the Armenian Genocide as a measure to distort the truth of the Armenian Genocide and avoid prosecution.
Fortunately in Australia, individuals, intellectuals, journalist and publishers are not bound by such restrictions. In April of the this year, the ABC Television’s Foreign Correspondent program broadcast an Eric Campbell story entitled 'Armenia and Turkey – Ghosts of the Past' during which the tragic events that befell the Armenian people where truthfully described as the Armenian Genocide.
THE ACTIONThe Armenian National Committee of Australia asks you to join us in questioning ABC's Family Footsteps program as to why the program has referred to the Armenian Genocide as the alleged Armenian Genocide.
We ask you to join us in
requesting a public correction for the reference to the genocide as the 'alleged' Armenian Genocide and we ask you to join us in requesting that the ABC reaffirm its previously established moral and historically accurate position when referring to the Armenian Genocide.
