South Australia Recognizes Armenian Genocide

[Alexandros]

South Australia Recognizes Armenian Genocide

Published: Wednesday March 25, 2009

ADELAIDE, Australia--The South Australian Parliament's Legislative Council passed on Wednesday a motion recognizing the Armenian Genocide as "one of the greatest crimes against humanity," the Armenian National Committee of Australia reported.

An Armenian National Committee of Australia delegation was present as the motion was introduced by David Ridgway, the leader of the Liberal Opposition in the Legislative Council and seconded by Bernard Finnigan, a member of the Labor Government in the Legislative Council. The motion received a unanimous vote by the Upper House of South Australia's parliament.

The motion is unique, as it is the first to include recognition of recently-uncovered material detailing the significant humanitarian effort by the people of South Australia, who aided the victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide almost a century ago.

South Australians, as part of the global Near East Relief effort, answered calls for aid by donating clothing, money and infrastructure - an orphanage in Lebanon which housed the children who survived the genocide.

"I would like to recognize South Australia's role in the first major international humanitarian relief effort. As was the case for the genocide itself, that effort was not broadly publicized," Ridgway said.

"It goes without saying that such acts as the Armenian genocide epitomize prejudices against race, religion and culture. For most Australians those attitudes are difficult to comprehend but, unfortunately, they remain commonplace in many societies today," he added.

Finnigan also addressed the house in seconding the motion. "In light of growing international awareness of the Armenian genocide - and given the horrific nature of the genocide itself - it is time for we South Australians to do our part," he said.

ANC Australia Political Relations Officer, Vache Kahramanian commended Ridgway, Finnigan and their Legislative Council colleagues for recognizing what he described a "proud intertwining of histories for Armenians and Australians."

"It is fitting that South Australia is the first to honor this significant moment in Australian history--the first time this great nation came to the aid of a needy people a whole world away," Kahramanian said. "It is important for nations like Australia to recognize and condemn all acts of genocide, as some - like the Armenian Genocide - remain unpunished."

Ridgway commended the Armenian-Australian community and ANC Australia for their excellent leadership.

Link

[Federate]

Re: South Australia Recognizes Armenian Genocide

Thanks for the link. That makes two Australian states to have recognized the AG, the other being New South Wales.

[Anoush]

Re: South Australia Recognizes Armenian Genocide

Thanks for the post Alexandros.

Now let's see if Obama will keep his promise. In 2005 he condemned Bush for not recognizing the Genocide. Let's see what he is about to do after his visit to turkey.

[merhayrenik]

Re: South Australia Recognizes Armenian Genocide

Australia the country must follow suit, but this is great news.
Good job.

[Alexandros]

Re: South Australia Recognizes Armenian Genocide

Thanks for the post Alexandros.

Now let's see if Obama will keep his promise. In 2005 he condemned Bush for not recognizing the Genocide. Let's see what he is about to do after his visit to turkey.

Indeed.Obama sent also a letter during the Presidential elections to ANCA where he promised to recognize the AG.But we want to see action and not only words.

[hipeter924]

Re: South Australia Recognizes Armenian Genocide

Australia the country must follow suit, but this is great news.
Good job.

I wish New Zealand would follow suit. But sadly. We have a government that is over obsessed with being liked by everyone...so even though academics here believe in the Armenian Genocide I doubt it would ever be recognized here for at least a long while.

[GreekForumer]

Re: South Australia Recognizes Armenian Genocide

Related news from South Australia......

SA pollies clash over Pontian genocide


South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson (R)
at the unveiling of the plaque commemorating the 1915-1922 Pontian Genocide.

Apr 7, 2009

Liberal Senator Alan Ferguson denies Pontian Genocide

SA Attorney General Michael Atkinson to introduce resolution recognising Pontian Genocide

A POLITICAL battle has been sparked between two South Australian politicians over their views on the Pontian Genocide.

The South Australian Attorney General, Minister for Justice and Multicultural Affairs, Michael Atkinson and the South Australian Liberal, Senator Alan Ferguson, are at loggerheads because of comments made by Mr Atkinson .

The comments were made at the unveiling of a plaque in Adelaide's Migration Museum that commemorates the Pontian Genocide carried out by Turkish forces between 1915 and 1922.

The event was organised in December 2008 as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Pontian Brotherhood of South Australia.

Mr Atkinson's speech attracted the attention of the Turkish Ambassador Murat Ersavci for saying that nationalist Turkish forces led by Kemal Mustafa's forces were responsible for the Pontian, Armenian and Assyrian genocides.

The Turkish Ambassador contacted Senator Ferguson to protest Mr Atkinson's speech.

According to Neos Kosmos English Edition (NKEE) sources the Turkish Embassy is fervently lobbying the South Australian government for the removal of the plaque.

Senator Ferguson responded by addressing the Senate on March 18, the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the formal agreement between Australia and Turkey.

The Senator said that the Turkish Ambassador had visited him and had "expressed his deep concern" about Mr Atkinson's speech.

Senator Ferguson personal objection to the speech is that "It can only cause deep ill-feeling, not the least since Mustafa Kemal was the leader of a nation that was, at that time, fighting for its survival against an invasion from Greece-a point that the Attorney-General in South Australia seemed to overlook. "

Senator Ferguson then accuses Pontians and Armenians of trying to 'rewrite history' and of applying con-temporary morals on 'events that took place 100 years ago.'

He goes on to say that people should not pass judgement on historical events without knowing the facts.

NKEE contacted Mr Ferguson who defended his speech .

Ferguson said his speech in Federal Parliament was driven by his belief that government is obligated to represent all people of the community.

"I don't think it's right to promote what might be construed as controversial views which denigrate one section of the community," Senator Ferguson said. When pressed on his knowledge of the historical events of the time he conceded that he wasn't very familiar with the history of that part of the world and of that era.

While not denying that atrocities were committed against Armenians and Greeks, Ferguson reiterated the view that atrocities were committed by all sides.

He refused to use the term genocide, arguing that there are historians who dispute that atrocities were only one sided.

Atkinson responded by accusing Senator Ferguson of running errands for the Turkish ambassador and by attacking Federal Liberal leader, Malcolm Turnbull, and South Australian State Liberal Leader Mr Smith for not disassociating their parties from Senator Ferguson's comments.

Atkinson also disputes Mr Ferguson's claim that his concern was for harmonious multicultural relations.

"I've been going to the important events for people of a non-English speaking background for 25 years. I don't recall once seeing Senator Ferguson at those events and I think it is that disconnect... that has caused this fiasco," said Mr Atkinson.

He also pointed out that his relations with the Turkish community are very good, highlighting the fact that he doesn't hold this "community responsible for the events in Anatolia.

"In fact I have more to do with Turkish Australians than Senator Ferguson ever has," he added.

Mr Atkinson revealed to NKEE that a resolution for the recognition of the Pontian Genocide will be introduced to the South Australian Parliament which has already passed a resolution for the Armenian Genocide. "I believe, Senator Ferguson's remarkable denial necessitates that South Australian Par-liament do it regarding the Pontian Greeks."

http://www.neoskosmos.com.au/090406/nkew/community/community_index.shtml

[GreekForumer]

Re: South Australia Recognizes Armenian Genocide

response........

Turkish anger at holocaust remark

Jamie Walker | April 11, 2009
Article from: The Australian

TURKEY has officially complained to Canberra that a state Labor minister tried to lever one of the most sensitive episodes in that country's modern history into votes for the ALP.

What began as a seemingly unremarkable speech by South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson to 40 people at a Greek community function has so angered Ankara that its ambassador to Australia, Murat Ersavci, protested to Foreign Minister Stephen Smith about the "defamation" of his country.

"I feel our relations are too important to be used in these self-serving, petty local politics," Mr Ersavci told The Weekend Australian. The Turks are seething over remarks Mr Atkinson made about the role of one of the country's towering figures, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in the tragedy that engulfed its Pontian or Black Sea Greek minority between 1915 and 1922.

Kemal was the commander who broke the hearts of the Anzacs at Gallipoli and then held out a hand to Australia by declaring its fallen soldiers would forever be sons of Turkey. He is revered in his homeland as the founder of the modern Turkish republic.

After doing the honours at the launch of a plaque commemorating what he called the "genocide" of Pontian Greeks by Turkish nationalists led by Kemal's forces -- a contention flatly rejected by Ankara -- Mr Atkinson poured petrol on the flames by declaring that anyone who disputed this version of history was practising a form of "holocaust denial".

When his account was challenged in federal parliament last month by the Deputy President of the Senate, Alan Ferguson, it was the expatriate Greek community's turn to be outraged. The veteran Liberal senator has since apologised for any offence he might have caused.

Mr Atkinson, seizing on this, had Senator Ferguson's speech to parliament translated into Greek and mailed out to thousands of voters from Greek, Assyrian, Syrian Orthodox and Armenian backgrounds in eight state seats in Adelaide.

Other state Labor MPs followed up with letters urging them to remember Senator Ferguson's speech "supporting the Turkish version of history" at next year's state election.

Mr Atkinson denied that he had used the issue as a political wedge against the state Liberals.

"I have an intellectual interest in this ... if there were no Greeks in my electorate, only Armenians and Turks, I would take the same position," he said.

For the record, Mr Atkinson said he knew of 12 ethnically Turkish constituents in his inner Adelaide seat of Croydon, against some 900 of Greek extraction. There were two Armenians.

The 2006 census found that 365,200 Australians described themselves as being of Greek descent, and 59,400 as Turkish.

Mr Ersavci said he had received "thousands of letters" from Turkish Australians concerned that they could face discrimination because of the "defamation situation" in South Australia.

Referring to Mr Atkinson's speech to the Pontian Brotherhood of South Australia last December, the ambassador said: "He seemed to be completely unaware of what is going on in the world. Politicians should not rewrite history, especially when talking about the Black Sea Greeks."

Mr Ersavci, who will attend Anzac Day commemorations with Mr Smith at Gallipoli in a fortnight, said he had asked the Foreign Minister to look into the Turkish Government's concerns. "He said he would do it," Mr Ersavci said.

Mr Smith's office said he had written to South Australian Premier Mike Rann outlining the federal Government's position "on these historical events" in Turkey at the time the remnants of the once mighty Ottoman Empire gave way to the new republic.

Australia believed "dialogue between the governments and communities of the countries concerned" was best and would not seek to intervene in the historical dispute.

Mr Atkinson said he backed independent research findings, contested by Turkey, that 1.5million ethnic Armenians and 350,000 Pontian Greeks were massacred during and after World War I.

Mr Ersavci said Turkey acknowledged that a "war within a war" had taken place, but not on the scale purported. The toll among Pontian Greeks cited by Mr Atkinson was "simply preposterous".

Sticking to his guns, Mr Atkinson said: "To say that is a non-existent event is equivalent to holocaust denial."

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25318887-15084,00.html

[Alexandros]

Re: South Australia Recognizes Armenian Genocide

Australian Senator apologized for doubting Armenian Genocide

13.04.2009 19:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Senator Alan Ferguson has apologized for calling the Armenian and Pontian-Greek Genocides "debatable." In a speech made to the Federal Parliament's upper house two weeks ago, Senator Ferguson brought into question the historical truth of the Armenian and Greek Genocides by stating they "cannot be accurately depicted" today.

The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) and leaders of the Greek and Assyrian communities immediately presented objective academic material regarding the Armenian Genocide and demanded that Senator Ferguson apologize for casting doubt over the accuracy of these crimes against humanity, which have been condemned by the International Association of Genocide Scholars.

Senator Ferguson subsequently reviewed his position and in his letter of apology, stated that he was "deeply sorry" as his speech was never intended to cause "distress".

It continued: "I accept the findings of the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples in relation to the atrocities that were committed against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontian Greeks..."

ANC Australia President, Varant Meguerditchian said the community accepts Senator Ferguson's apology and looks forward to establishing a strong working relationship with him.

"We accept the Senator's remorse as genuine and believe that the Senator now realizes the great impact this crime against humanity has played in the lives of so many descendants of the Armenian and Pontian-Greek Genocides who now consider Australia their home.," said Mr. Meguerditchian, ANC Australia reports.

Link

[Federate]

Re: South Australia Recognizes Armenian Genocide

South Australia's Lower House recognizes Armenian Genocide


30.04.2009 16:11 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ South Australia's Lower House has followed the Upper House by passing a motion officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) from Parliament House in Adelaide.

South Australia's Legislative Assembly passed the motion officially joining "members of the Armenian-Australian, Pontian Greek-Australian and Assyrian-Australian communities in honoring the memory of the innocent men, women and children who fell victim to the first modern genocide".

The motion was introduced by Attorney General, the Hon. Michael Atkinson MP (ALP), and seconded by Opposition Leader, Mr. Martin Hamilton-Smith MP (LIB). Eight other members of parliament spoke in support and it passed unanimously.

This action comes one month after South Australia's Legislative Council passed a similar motion.

ANC Australia President, Mr. Varant Meguerditchian praised the "historic" motion, which recognized the genocides committed by Ottoman Turkey in Anatolia against its Christian population and called upon "the Commonwealth Parliament to officially condemn the genocide".

"The one million Australians of Armenian, Greek and Assyrian heritage are proud that both houses of South Australia's Parliament have recognized the events of 1915 as genocide," said Mr. Meguerditchian.

Mr. Meguerditchian further praised the resolve of Mr. Atkinson and the supporters of this motion, as it was passed despite much-publicized pressure from the Turkish government via its Ambassador to Australia. Click here for more info.

He said: "The unanimous passage of this motion, in spite of direct pressure from the Turkish government, and in spite of US President Obama's failure to use the term 'genocide', demonstrates the will of South Australia to stand firm in the fight against denial."

He added: "The call for the government of Australia to follow NSW and South Australia in recognizing the Armenian Genocide is one we will take directly to Canberra on behalf of our communities."

The Motion In Full

That, whereas the genocide by the Ottoman state between 1915-1923 of Armenians, Hellenes, Syrian and other minorities in Asia Minor is one of the greatest crimes against humanity, the people of South Australia and this House -

(a) join the members of the Armenian-Australian, Pontian Greek-Australian and Syrian-Australian communities in honoring the memory of the innocent men, women and children who fell victim to the first modern genocide;

(b) condemns the genocide of the Armenians, Pontian Greeks, Syrian Orthodox and other Christian minorities, and all other acts of genocide as the ultimate act of racial, religious and cultural intolerance;

(c) recognizes the importance of remembering and learning from such dark chapters in human history to ensure that such crimes against humanity are not allowed to be repeated;

(d) condemns and prevents all attempts to use the passage of time to deny or distort the historical truth of the genocide of the Armenians and other acts of genocide committed during this century;

(e) acknowledges the significant humanitarian contribution made by the people of South Australia to the victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide and the Pontian Genocide; and

(f) calls on the Commonwealth Parliament officially to condemn the genocide.

http://panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=31165