SYDNEY: Dr Arman Tatoyan, the founder of the Centre for Law and Justice Tatoyan Foundation, received a warm welcome from Sydney’s Armenian-Australian community when meeting with its religious leaders, participating in a community town hall event and visiting the Hamazkaine Arshak & Sophie Galstaun College, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
On Thursday, 1st December 2022, Dr Tatoyan addressed Sydney’s Armenian community, who were treated with a unique opportunity to hear from the former Human Rights Defender of Armenia
after he spent three days in Canberra conducting high-level meetings with Australian parliamentarians and departmental officials.
The community town hall event held at the Willoughby Uniting Church was attended by over 100 community members, who also had the opportunity to participate in a Q&A segment following Dr Tatoyan’s groundbreaking presentation about the fact-finding mission he undertook along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.
Armenian-Australian religious leaders were also given the opportunity to meet with Dr Tatoyan at the Armenian Apostolic Church Archdiocese. The meeting was facilitated by the ANC-AU National Office and included His Eminence Archbishop Haigazoun Najarian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australian and New Zealand, Reverend Dr. Krikor Youmshajekian, President of the Armenian Missionary Association of Australia and other clergy.
Sydney’s largest bilingual, co-educational Armenian school, Galstaun College also opened its door warmly welcoming Dr Tatoyan to the school's campus. Dr Tatoyan met with students from the college’s transition and reception classes before participating in a special assembly, where the student presented an Armenian language cultural program.
Dr Tatoyan highlighted the important role Galstaun College plays in providing students with an opportunity to excel academically whilst fostering and preserving the Armenian culture and traditions in New South Wales. He went on to thank the college for its ongoing commitment to Armenia and Artsakh and their compatriots in the homeland.
Tatoyan said: “Galstaun College is a beautiful home for a new generation of Armenian-Australians who are committed to maintaining a strong connection to their homeland. I express my sincere gratitude to the College Board, principal, teachers and parents for instilling a small piece of Armenia in these students every day. It is extremely refreshing to see this.”
ANC-AU Executive Director Michael Kolokossian, who hosted Dr Tatoyan’s visit, said: “The Armenian National Committee of Australia thanks the community for warmly welcoming Dr Tatoyan who is deserving of our support. He is doing immense work, risking his life daily to document and report on Azerbaijan’s gross violations of international law.”
Dr Tatoyan was visiting Australia as the international guest of honour for ANC-AU Advocacy Week, which
began in Canberra and concluded with the ANC-AU Annual Gala at the Shangri-La Hotel in Sydney on 3rd December 2022.
