SYDNEY: At the invitation of the Australian Hellenic Council (AHC NSW), the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) and the Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) held a three-way conference in Sydney to discuss genocide awareness in Australia.
The conference, which was held to address the significant shared concerns of the three public affairs organisations, brought about an atmosphere of cooperation on issues of human rights, genocide recognition and freedom of speech.
Executive Director Mr. Varant Meguerditchian, who led the ANC Australia delegation at the three-way meeting, stated that with the AUA and the AHC, ANC Australia had begun a process to build a coalition in opposition to genocide and its subsequent denial.
He said: "ANC Australia, the AHC and the AUA as representatives of those Australian communities who were subjected to genocide in the early part of the 20th century have a moral obligation to raise genocide awareness in the political and public spheres.
"By combining the collective will of the Armenian-Australian, Assyrian-Australian and Australian Hellenic communities we are presenting a united front in opposition to genocide denial in Australia."
AHC NSW Secretary Dr. Panayiotis Diamadis added: "Raising public awareness shall serve as the building block to recognition and condemnation of the first genocides of the 20th century."
The Armenian-Australian, Australian Hellenic and Assyrian-Australian communities represent a sizable portion of the Australian voting public. They see recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the Hellenic Genocide and the Assyrian Genocide as an issue of fundamental importance.
Mr. Hermiz Shahen, AUA Regional Secretary for Australia and New Zealand, stated that "our commitment to genocide awareness was all about influencing Australian government policy to bring an end to the cycle of genocide".
Based on the shared concerns of their respective communities, ANC Australia, AHC and AUA have released the following joint statement, outlining their agreement to focus on genocide recognition:
Whereby, Australia is signatory to the UN Genocide Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and has demonstrated leadership on international human rights issues; whereby, the people of Australia provided food, clothing and shelter to victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide, the Hellenic Genocide and the Assyrian Genocide as part of an international humanitarian relief effort known as the Near East Relief; and whereby, throughout World War One, Australian servicemen witnessed the systematic annihilation of the Armenian, Hellenic and Assyrian peoples in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 - 1922; ANC Australia, the AHC and the AUA commit to their moral responsibility to seek recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Hellenic Genocide and Assyrian Genocide by the Federal Government of Australia as a measure aimed at preventing similar crimes against humanity from ever occurring again.
Copyright (C) 2008 ANC of Australia. All Rights Reserved. Newsletter by KayWeb Systems
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Dr Armen Gakavian
16 Acacia St
Eastwood NSW 2122
Australia
Email: armen.gakavian@gmail.com
URL: http://www.realchange.nareg.com.au
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The opinions expressed are those of the author(s)and not necessarily those of HEC.
Hellenic Electronic Center (HEC) www.greece.org
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About Me
- Archangelos
- Ioannis Fidanakis is a Hellenic-American Activist. He was the youngest elected President of Panthracian Union of America “Orpheus” serving as President from November 2007 till November 2009. As President of Panthracian Union he was responsible for organizing the first ever Hellenic Genocide Commemoration outside the United Nations on April 6, 2009. He is currently the Panthracian Representative to the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, where he served as a Board Member from 2009 till 2010. A member of the Hellenic League of America, HLA and Cyprus Action Network of America, CANA he has been featured as a guest speaker at several different grassroots rallies, lectures, and functions up and down the American East Coast. His writings have been published several times in Hellenic-American newspapers from Chicago to New York, as well as on Global Politician.com. His various articles have been republished on numerous blogs and web sites such as Sparta: Journal of Ancient Spartan and Greek History. Ioannis has a Masters in Public Policy and a B.A. in Political Science; with a concentration in International Politics and a minor in History.
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WARNING: *Enocism does not support hatred against individuals based on race, pigmentation of skin color or religious affiliation. Our ideology supports the struggles of native and ethnic people being oppressed, enslaved, manipulated or exploitated by foreign elements within their own natural and historical homelands. We call on these natives and the international community to take responsibility for the crimes being committed and resist by all ethnical means. To construct truly free states based on their own true cultural identity and right to self-preservation.*