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: [email protected] ~ Website:
26 March, 2008
MEDIA RELEASE: For Immediate Release
{CONTACT: Haig Kayserian (Communications Officer) ~ 0403 317 903 ~
[email protected]}
ANC AUSTRALIA’S CANBERRA TRIBUTE TO RELIEF FUND
SYDNEY: The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) and the
Australia-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group hosted an event in
Canberra’s Parliament House last week, recognising the enormous human rights
contribution of the Armenian Relief Fund of Australia.
The event, an Australian Institute of Holocaust and Genocide Studies’
(AIHGS) photo exhibit titled From Beyond Anzac Cove, was attended by key
parliamentarians from both sides of the political spectrum.
The photos of the Armenian Relief Fund of Australia were uncovered by the
AIHGS from various Australian archive sources, and represent the efforts of
the Australian public who, from 1915-1929, provided humanitarian assistance
to victims of the Armenian Genocide. Dr. Panayiotis Diamadis and Mr. Vicken
Babkenian of the AIHGS were in attendance to guide the parliamentarians
through the exhibit.
ANC Australia President, Mr. Varant Meguerditchian said: "The Armenian
Relief Fund of Australia represents a proud moment in Australian history and
today we thank you, as representatives of our great nation for the
generosity of your forebears."
Throughout WWI, some 300 Australians were taken prisoner by the Ottoman
Empire. Many of these POWs lay witness to the systematic destruction of the
indigenous Armenian, Greek and Assyrian populations of Anatolia at the hands
of the Ottoman government.
The first genocide of the 20th century triggered an incredible humanitarian
response across the globe. In Australia, from 1915 to 1929, the Armenian
Relief Fund of Australia provided food, clothing and shelter to victims of
the Armenian Genocide. By 1922, these efforts had become the first major
international humanitarian project and set a precedent for providing aid to
disaster areas to this day.