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YEREVAN: The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) reports that the parliament of the Republic of Armenia called upon parliaments and legislative bodies throughout the world to recognise and condemn the genocide of the Armenians, Hellenes and Assyrians perpetrated by Ottoman Turkey from 1915 to 1923. 

In a Parliamentary Declaration on the occasion of the 96th anniversary commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, the Republic of Armenia National Assembly Speaker, Hovik Abrahamyan stated that recognition of the genocides perpetrated against the Armenians, Hellenes and Assyrians would lead to the restoration of justice and the of prevention other genocides in the future.

He said: “For the resolution of this injustice, the prevention of further genocides and the establishment of good neighbourly relations between Armenia and Turkey, the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia calls on the parliaments of the world to recognise and condemn the genocides perpetrated against the Armenian, Hellenic and Assyrian peoples in Turkey at the beginning of the last century.”

Directing his message to Turkey, Abrahamyan then declared: “The National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia calls upon the legislative and executive authorities of Turkey to remove all the legal, political and other obstacles, that prevent Turkish society from freely studying and discussing the past, especially the facts of the genocide for which Ottoman Turkey is responsible.”

ANC Australia Executive Director Varant Meguerditchian welcomed the Parliamentary Declaration.

“The National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia’s policy regarding Turkish responsibility for and denial of the Armenian, Hellenic and Assyrian Genocides is clear and unequivocal,” he said.
 
“ANC Australia takes this opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to work with the Australian Hellenic Council and the Assyrian Universal Alliance Australia to advocate for the recognition of the Armenian, Hellenic and Assyrian Genocides by the Federal government of Australia.”


During the last days of the Ottoman Empire the Government implemented a policy of Genocide upon its Christian Armenian, Hellenic and Assyrian population. As a result, up to 1.5million Armenian, 1million Hellene and 750,000 Assyrian men, women and children lost their lives between 1915 and 1923.

On July 9, 2010 ANC Australia the Australian Hellenic Council (AHC) and the Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) released a joint statement outlining their agreement to focus on genocide recognition:

Whereby, Australia is signatory to the UN Genocide Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and has demonstrated leadership on international human rights issues; whereby, the people of Australia provided food, clothing and shelter to victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide, the Hellenic Genocide and the Assyrian Genocide as part of an international humanitarian relief effort known as the Near East Relief; and whereby, throughout World War One, Australian servicemen witnessed the systematic annihilation of the Armenian, Hellenic and Assyrian peoples in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 - 1923; ANC Australia, the AHC and the AUA commit to their moral responsibility to seek recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Hellenic Genocide and Assyrian Genocide by the Federal Government of Australia as a measure aimed at preventing similar crimes against humanity from ever occurring again.