SYDNEY: Leading Australian community organisations - including the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the Australian Hellenic Council, the Ukrainian Federation of Australian Organisations, the Assyrian Universal Alliance Australia, the Darfur Action Network, and the Armenian National Committee (ANC Australia) - have issued a joint statement on the Australian Foreign Minister’s denial of the Armenian Genocide.
In a letter address to the Australian Turkish Advocacy Alliance, Julie Bishop, stated that the Ministry does not view the events at the end of the Ottoman Empire as ‘genocide’.
The joint statement issued by the peak public affairs originations of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the Australian Hellenic Council, the Ukrainian Federation of Australian Organisations, the Assyrian Universal Alliance Australia, the Darfur Action Network and ANC Australia, calls on Australia's Foreign Minister to correct the Australian government's position on the Armenian Genocide.
Below is the text of the joint statement:
We are deeply disappointed that the Foreign Minister of Australia, the Hon Julie Bishop, has explicitly denied the Armenian Genocide, while acknowledging the devastating effects which the “tragic events” at the end of the Ottoman Empire had on minority groups, and on later generations and their identity, heritage and culture.
The remarks by Australia’s Foreign Minister are a stark reminder of the need for vigilance in raising awareness of the unique elements of the crime of genocide. The overwhelming view of history scholars is that the killing of over a million and a half civilians in the Armenian, Hellenic and Assyrian communities during the final years of the Ottoman Empire was done with genocidal intent, and is therefore to be characterized as genocide, as was subsequently defined in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
We call on the Minister and the government to rethink and correct their position to ensure just reference to the Armenian Genocide.
Authorised by:
Executive Council of Australian Jewry
Armenian National Committee of Australia
Ukrainian Federation of Australian Organisations
Australian Hellenic Council
Assyrian Universal Alliance - Australia
Darfur Australia Network
