MP ACCUSED OF BETRAYING ASSYRIAN COMMUNITY
by Lauren McMah
Cumberland Courier Newspapers
tory/mp-accused-of-betraying-assyrian-community/
F eb 24 2010
Australia
AUSTRALIAN Business Party president Joseph Adams has slammed a motion
for the NSW Government to formally recognise the Assyrian genocide,
because it failed to mention the group responsible for the slaughter.
Mr Adams said the motion, expected to be put to parliament by
Smithfield State Labor MP Ninos Khoshaba yesterday, made no mention
of the Ottoman Government, who has been accused of the genocide.
Mr Adams, of Canley Heights, said Mr Khoshaba had betrayed the
Assyrian community.
"Ninos Khoshaba should be ashamed of himself for hiding the truth,"
he said.
"He may be more concerned for the safety of his own state seat of
Smithfield, but I can assure him that he has lost the vote of many
Assyrians."
The plaque on an Assyrian genocide monument at Bonnyrigg will also
exclude any reference to the Ottoman Empire.
Mr Adams said true recognition of the Assyrian genocide would not be
possible unless the Ottoman Government was held responsible.
"The Assyrian community of NSW is appalled at the lack of sensitivity
displayed by one of its own on an issue so sacred to the heart of
every member of the Assyrian community," he said.
When the State Government recognised the Armenian genocide in 1997, the
State Government listed the Ottoman Government as being responsible.
Mr Khoshaba said he welcomed debate on the motion.
"The motion recognises all acts of genocide against the Assyrian
people," he said.
"If this motion comes up for debate, then all acts of genocide
against the Assyrian people from the early 1900s will be discussed
and debated."
Adem Cetinay, part of the Turkish community’s opposition to Mr
Khoshaba’s motion, said that such recognition would "divide the
community along ethnic fault lines".
"The allegation of an Assyrian genocide is both hotly debated and
deeply offensive to Australians of Turkish background," he said.
"Surely NSW Parliament has more pressing matters to debate."