CANBERRA: On Monday, 20th March 2023, representatives from the peak public affairs bodies of the Armenian-Australian, Assyrian-Australian and Greek-Australian communities from New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory will convene in the national capital Canberra for the inaugural Joint Justice Initiative (JJI) Advocacy Week.
The three community advocacy bodies will be joined by Western Australia-based academic, Professor Melanie O’Brien, President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), who will lead the Joint Justice Initiative Advocacy Week delegation, which includes members of the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), the Assyrian National Council - Australia and the Australian Hellenic Council.
The inaugural JJI Advocacy Week will be conducted during one of the last sitting weeks before Armeinan-Australians commemorate the 108th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and on the sidelines of Azerbaijan’s almost 100-day blockade of the Republic of Artsakh.
The Joint Justice Initiative will discuss the importance of recognition of crimes against humanity, such as the 1915 Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides, to ensure such crimes are never again repeated.
Azerbaijan’s occupation of Artsakh, Turkey’s occupation of Cyprus, and the persecution of Assyrians in the Nineveh province will play a key role in the meetings scheduled over the next few days, with the key message being “genocide denied = genocide repeated”.
The Joint Justice Initiative delegation has secured over twenty meetings with Federal parliamentarians from both chambers and will host an event in Australia’s Parliament House to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Smyrna Catastrophe, a solemn occasion marked by hundreds of thousands in the Greek-Australian community.
The event will be a celebration of the three communities in the presence of over 100 dignitaries, including Federal Australian parliamentarians, diplomats, departmental officials, political staffers, academics, media and community and religious leaders.
Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia, Michael Kolokossian, said: “We are proud to be joined by representatives of the Greek and Assyrian communities of Australia in advocating for justice and recognition of the 1915 genocides that shattered our people more than 100 years ago.”
“As Artsakh remains under siege, Cyprus remains occupied, and Assyrians remain persecuted in their ancestral homelands, it is a reminder that failure to recognise crimes against humanity will only allow such evils to be repeated in the 21st century,” Kolokossian added.
On 25th February 2020, over 100 Federal Australian parliamentarians, diplomats, departmental officials, political staffers, academics, media and community leaders were treated to cultural performances, food, wine and brandy, as well as the historic signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, which affirmed that the signatory public affairs representatives of the three communities were jointly committed to seeing Australia recognise the Turkish-committed Genocides against the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian citizens of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The Joint Justice Initiative currently has over 35 signatories in Federal Parliament.
