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[PICTURE: A selection of photographs of the 2019 ANC-AU Youth Advocates program]

CANBERRA: Eighteen young Armenian-Australians will spend two days in the nation's capital Canberra this week as part of the third annual Armenian National Committee of Australia's (ANC-AU) Youth Advocates Program, which will be a major feature of the Artsakh-centred ANC-AU Advocacy Week 2020.

These young Armenian-Australians – from Sydney and Canberra – will practice the art of political debate and advocacy, meet political, media and thought leaders in a Program that once again has the support of the ANC-AU Internship Program's Hagop Kortian Scholarship. While the Scholarship is to help facilitate the placement of Armenian-Australian students into political and other offices of influence, the Kortian family has dedicated part of their 2020 commitment of $10,000 to ensure the ANC-AU Youth Advocates Program is accessible to as many youth as possible, some of whom may be future applicants to the Scholarship.

ANC-AU's Haig Kayserian, Vache Kahramanian and Khajaque Kortian will take the group through advocacy training at Old Parliament House, where former Chief of Staff to Government Minister Michaelia Cash, Gisele Kapterian will take the Youth Advocates through a typical day as a political staffer. She has also served as an adviser to former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and former Trade Minister Steve Ciobo.

The delegation, which numbers at around 30 in total, will then meet with Australia's Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, the Hon. Paul Fletcher MP at Parliament House, who will take them through a day in the life of a government minister.

The ANC-AU Youth Advocates will then split into smaller groups to practice their advocacy skills by presenting the rights to self-determination of the endangered indigenous Armenians of the Republic of Artsakh, who are currently facing mass displacement after incessant attacks by the combined forces of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Islamist jihadi terrorists.

They will meet Members of Parliament, including Mike Freelander, Tim Wilson, Trent Zimmerman, John Alexander, Susan Templeman, Chris Bowen, Joel Fitzgibbon, Josh Burns, Jason Falinski and Julian Leeser.

The second day will feature the ANC-AU Youth Advocates being hosted by broadcaster Tim Shaw at the National Press Club and Climate & Energy Director, Richie Merzian at The Australia Institute think tank. In these meetings, these tertiary-aged Armenian-Australians will learn about the role of the media and think tanks in Canberra.


[VIDEO: Video Highlights of the 2019 ANC-AU Youth Advocates program]

"We thank the ANC-AU Youth Advocates of 2020 for taking time from their tertiary schedules to take part in a program which is more important now more than ever, with the Armenian homeland facing an existential threat," explained ANC-AU Executive Director, Haig Kayserian. "This program will give these young Armenian-Australians a first-hand insight into the inner workings of public affairs in Canberra, from the point of view of politicians, staffers, media, thought leaders and those lobbying for issues of importance to voters." 

"We thank the Kortian family, who have generously helped make this a possibility in memory of their late husband and father, Mr. Hagop Kortian, who was a founding force of Hai Tad in Australia."