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SYDNEY: Eastwood Park in the Australian Federal seat of Bennelong was the scene for ‘Armenian Family Day’; a rally to raise awareness and gather support for Armenian Genocide recognition. The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) initiative saw more than 2000 members of the Armenian-Australian community unite to call upon the Government of Australia to formally and unanimously recognise and condemn the Armenian Genocide.

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The Armenian-Australian community was joined by long time supporters; Senior Cabinet Minister Joe Hockey, Ms Gladys Berejiklian MP, City of Ryde Mayor Ivan Petch, Deputy Mayor Sarkis Yedelian and Dr Panayiotis Diamadis, who each reaffirmed their commitment to advocate awareness of genocide as a measure to prevent the repetition of such crimes against humanity.

Mayor Petch made an especially powerful statement; declaring: “If the United States Congress Foreign Relations Committee can recognise it, if the NSW State Parliament can recognise it, if Ryde Council can recognise it, then the Australian Federal Parliament should also recognise it.”

ANC Australia President Mr. Varant Meguerditchian said: “The event demonstrated the Armenian-Australian community’s united will in having Australia join the growing list of nations that have officially come to recognise the 1915 massacres of the 1.5 million Armenians as genocide.”

With an estimated 4000 Armenians residing in the Federal seat of Bennelong and more throughout the country, Mr. Meguerditchian noted: “Armenian-Australians would take into consideration the statements made by politicians and candidates regarding recognition of the Armenian Genocide when voting at the upcoming federal election.”

In his address to the community, Minister Hockey announced – on behalf of Prime Minister John Howard – that the Federal Government of Australia had approved an ANC Australia application, and will grant $1.432million to assist the funding of the Armenian Relief Society’s Mother and Child Health Care Centre project in Gyumri, Armenia.

Upon announcement of the funding approval, Mr. Meguerditchian said: “The Australian Government’s commitment to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Armenia pays tribute to the generosity of the Australian people and almost a century on, echoes Australian efforts to assist Armenian refugees in the years immediately following the Armenian Genocide.”

During the last days of the Ottoman Empire, the Government implemented a policy of Genocide upon its Christian Armenian population. As a result, up to 1.5million Armenian men, women and children lost their lives between 1915 and 1922. Adding weight to the importance of recognising the Armenian Genocide is the research conducted by the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies that discovered records of Australia’s humanitarian assistance to Armenians following the genocide and testimonies by ANZAC soldiers to atrocities against the Armenians as they occurred. In 1997 the Parliament of New South Wales became the first legislative body to recognise and condemn the Genocide of the Armenians.

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