Seven Federal members called for the recognition of the Armenian genocide, along side the Greek and Assyrian genocides.
John Alexander, Joe Hockey, Paul Fletcher, Craig Kelly, Malcolm Turnbull, Michael Danby and Joel Fitzgibbon urged the Australian House of Representatives to acknowledge the atrocities that took place at the dawn of the 20th century.
Member for Hughes, Craig Kelly, said,
“The Armenian Genocide and the related Assyrian and Greek Genocides were the result of a deliberate and systematic campaign against the Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire between 1914 and 1923,”
“Aside from the deaths, Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire had their wealth and property confiscated without compensation. Businesses and farms were lost, and schools, churches, hospitals and monasteries became the property of the Ottoman Empire.”
“It is now time for our parliament to join other parliaments around the world and recognise these genocides for what they were,”
Urging Australia to "follow in the footsteps of so many nations in formally recognising these genocides", the member for Bennelong, John Alexander, said the "actions of members of this parliament will help to solidify the global movement to identify these atrocities for what they are.”
Highlighting the practise of genocide across the world, Member for Wentworth, Malcolm Turnbull said,
“They are assembled here, as we are, to lament what was one of the great crimes against humanity, not simply a crime against the Greeks, the Assyrians and the Armenians but a crime against humanity—the elimination, the execution, the murder of hundreds of thousands of millions of people for no reason other than that they were different.
"This type of crime, this sort of genocidal crime, is something that sadly is not unique in our experience,”
See related articles:
Indian officials remember Armenian genocide victims (02 Nov 2011)
Sarkozy reiterates pledge for Armenian genocide recognition (18 Oct 2011)
China and the Armenian genocide (17 Feb 2011)
