SYDNEY: The City of Ryde Council has unanimously adopted two motions on Tuesday, 28th May 2024, one of which was to raise the Armenian tricolours to mark the Republic of Armenia’s First Independence Day, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
The first motion was tabled by Armenian-Australian Councillor Sarkis Yedelian OAM, ?recognising the 28th of May as Armenian Republic Day, a day which celebrates the anniversary of the establishment of the First Armenian Republic in 1918.
To mark the occasion, Ryde Council which is home to the largest Armenian-Australian community in the country, unanimously voted to conduct a formal flag-raising ceremony at Kissing Point Park in Putney, to celebrate the occasion with the Armenians living in the municipality.
The Council utilised this motion to condemn Azerbaijan’s occupation of over 200 square kilometres of sovereign Armenian territory, as well as reaffirming the rights to self-determination of the indigenous Armenian people of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), and calling for the safe return of the citizens of the Republic of Artsakh under international guarantees.
The second motion was tabled by the newly elected Mayor, Councillor Trenton Brown, to mark the 109th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Mayor Brown’s motion reaffirmed recognition of the 1915 Armenian Genocide and called on the Prime Minister of Australia to join President Joe Biden and other world leaders in accurately characterising the massacres committed against Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks as genocides.
ANC-AU Executive Director, Michael Kolokossian praised the passing of the motion and wrote to the City of Ryde Councillors for their support of both motions.
“Our community is indebted to Councillor Yedelian and Mayor Brown for their principled leadership in representation of the City of Ryde’s large Armenian-Australian population,” said Kolokossian.
“The Mayis 28 independence of the Republic of Armenia is the reason there is an Armenian nation today and stands as a beacon of hope to all Armenians, while Australia’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide is non-negotiable to our community of descendants of survivors of this unpunished crime.”
