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NSW Parliament Recognises Assyrian, Greek, Armenian Genocides

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  • NSW Parliament Recognises Assyrian, Greek, Armenian Genocides

    Assyrian International News Agency AINA
    May 10 2013


    NSW Parliament Recognises Assyrian, Greek, Armenian Genocides


    Posted GMT 5-10-2013 4:52:44

    A motion recognising the Greek, Assyrian and Armenian genocide was
    passed unanimously by the Parliament of NSW Legislative Council, after
    the request of the Assyrian Universal Alliance, the Australian
    Hellenic Council and the Armenian National Committee. While in 1997
    the NSW Parliament passed a motion recognising the genocide of the
    Armenians, on Wednesday 1 May the House recognised that between
    1914-1923, Greeks and Assyrians were subjected to qualitatively
    similar genocides by the then Ottoman Government.

    The motion passed reads that the NSW Parliament "condemns the
    genocides of the Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks, and all other acts
    of genocide as the ultimate act of intolerance". The motion also
    called on the Commonwealth Government to condemn the genocides of the
    Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks.

    "This recognition will act as a powerful counter to those, especially
    in present-day Turkey, who still ignore or deny outright the genocides
    of the Ottoman Christian minorities," said Mr Hermiz Shahen, the
    Deputy Secretary General of the Assyrian Universal Alliance. In his
    announcement, Mr Shahen thanked the Australian Hellenic Council and
    the Armenian National Committee, whose cooperation on the issue was
    crowned with Wednesday's genocide recognition by the NSW Parliament.

    According to Assyria Times, the member of the NSW Legislative Council
    and President of the Australian Christian Party Fred Nile, was
    responsible for moving the motion on 30 April and the rectification of
    the historical injustice. Mr Nile also demanded that the State of
    Turkey recognises and apologises for the Genocide.

    "In remembering these events, we do not seek to apportion blame. This
    is a matter of history, and history must neither be erased nor
    forgotten."

    "People of our great state donated generously to save the lives of
    those who had reached sanctuary in Greece, French Syria, British Iraq
    and British Palestine. The story of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek
    Genocides are a part of the Australian story and deserve their
    rightful place in that narrative," Fred Nile said in his adjournment
    speech.

    "When the Anzacs landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, there were Greek
    people living there, tilling the soil and fishing the waters. There
    were also Turkish tax collectors, police and soldiers. The non-Turks
    are the people who were deported; these are the people who were
    massacred during World War I and after," Nile said.

    In his speech, Fred Nile referred specifically to Dr Panayiotis
    Diamadis and Mr Vicken Babkenian, Directors of the Australian
    Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, whose pioneering
    research into the Australia's relationship to the Armenian, Greeks and
    Assyrian Genocides has returned to the light of day this issue for the
    people of New South Wales.

    "Recognition of historical events, and above all the recognition of
    genocide, is a human right issue and is very much a part of the
    Australian story. It's not a foreign problem that has been brought to
    this country. For our community, it's recognition of some of the
    pioneers of the community who came here directly from Pontos and Asia
    Minor, especially in Victoria. It's recognition of their heritage and
    it's a very important step politically for our community, in showing
    that these issues are not just a hundred years old problems that we
    can forget about, but are very much current because of the impact they
    have on generations later. These are not historic issues, but issues
    of international law and human rights essentially," Panayiotis
    Diamadis, director of the Australian Institute for Holocaust and
    Genocide Studies told Neos Kosmos.

    Dr Diamadis said it took long time to convince political parties and
    conduct a research that would prove the genocide was not a matter of
    foreign policy, but an Australian story, with Australian own
    servicemen witnessing the suffering of Assyrians, Armenians and
    Greeks.

    "This is why the Australian Institute of Genocide studies specifically
    focuses on the Australian relationship - Australian eye witnesses,
    Australian aid activists who helped rebuild refugees' lives, making it
    part of Australian story. We now want to bring it to Australian
    curriculum of the history for schools, as part of the existing
    subjects."

    For Dr Panayiotis Diamadis, it has been a "great honour" to contribute
    to the research and the recognition of the Genocide in the NSW
    Parliament.

    "It's another step forward. Our ultimate goal is to have a similar
    resolution in Federal Parliament. We have been working towards it for
    years - we believe the support is growing, but there are still
    especially political concerns to get over. We believe that with
    education we can educate our parliamentarians to see that this is not
    just a foreign policy issue, it's a human rights issue, it's a legal
    issue, and very much it's part of the Australian story," Dr Diamandis
    said.

    New South Wales Parliament became the second Australian state to
    recognise the Greek, Assyrian and Armenian Genocide.The parliament of
    South Australia became the first legislative body in the world to
    recognise the genocide of the Assyrians and Greeks in 2009.

    By Maja Jovic
    http://neoskosmos.com

    http://www.aina.org/news/2013059235244.htm

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