YEREVAN: On the final day of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to the Republic of Armenia, participants visited the “Tsitsernakaberd” Armenian Genocide Memorial and Museum in Yerevan to pay their respects to the 1.5 million Armenians massacred during the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
Deputy Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, Lusine Abrahamyan, briefed the delegation on the history of the creation of the memorial complex and showed them the tree planted on behalf of the first Federal-led Australian Delegation to Armenia in 2019, as well as the khachkars (cross-stones) erected in the complex in memory of Armenians who the Azerbaijani Government massacred in the cities of Sumgait, Kirovabad (Gandzak), Baku in the early 1990s.
Members of the delegation also had an opportunity to water the tree planted to honour the victims of the Genocide and the Australians who helped the survivors.
Members of the delegation, Hugh McDermott MP, Tim James MP, Mark Coure MP, Susan Carter MLC, Matt Cross MP, Kim Wells MP, and Ann-Marie MLC were amongst the 20-person delegation who laid flowers at the eternal flame, toured the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute and signed the guest book for dignitaries.
“This was a numbing experience, standing alongside some of the champions of our cause who have been among the pioneers of advancing this issue across Australia over many years, finally having the opportunity to visit such a unique and mesmerising memorial was a very emotional experience for us all,” said ANC-AU Executive Director Michael Kolokossian.
“As we bow our heads to honour the past, we are acutely aware that this fight is not over and that these human rights champions must continue their work and bring further attention to the fact that a genocide denied is a genocide repeated, as we witness the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh in real-time,” added Kolokossian.
