Armenian National Committee of Australia
The Peak Public Affairs Committee of the Armenian-Australian Community
259 Penshurst Street, Willoughby NSW 2068 ~ PO Box 768, Willoughby NSW 2068
Tel: (02) 9419 8264 ~ Fax: (02) 9411 8898
Email: info@anc.org.au ~ Website:

16 October, 2007

PRESS RELEASE

{CONTACT: Haig Kayserian (Communications Officer) ~ 0403 317 903 ~
info@anc.org.au}

THOUSANDS GATHER FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION

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.

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."

[End]

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.