450 Walk for recognition
AYF AUSTRALIA PRESS RELEASE
12th May 05
SYDNEY - The Armenian Youth Federation of Australia (AYF) led the Armenian community of Sydney in a ‘90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Candlelight Recognition Walk’ through the City’s central business district on Thursday April 28 2005.
450 friends of the Armenian community of Australia accepted the invitation to walk through the City, candles in hand to commemorate the tragic and unrecognised Genocide of the Armenian people at the hands of the Ottoman Turks in 1915.
The members of the AYF and the Homenetmen Antranig Scouts, along with the students of Hamazkaine Arshak and Sophie Galstaun School led the general public, which included many descendants of the 1.5 million civilians slaughtered by the Turkish government.
“This should serve as a message for the Turkish government of today,� said the chairperson of the AYF Mr Kevork Tufenkjian.
“90 years on, in faraway Australia, 450 members of the same Armenian community that the Turks tried to wipe out have again joined hands in recognition, commemoration and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide.�
“We challenge the Turkish government of today to face up to their predecessors’ misdemeanours and admit what history books prove beyond doubt – that they attempted the systematic elimination of an entire people by leading them on a death march and taking nine-tenths of their land.�
“We are here in a cry for justice,� he added beside a giant poster announcing ‘Armenian Genocide – 90 years of Turkish Denial’.
“We, the youth, will not rest until justice is served and our forefathers’ spirits can rest in peace.�
The ‘90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Candlelight Recognition Walk’ was part of a series of commemoration ceremonies conducted by the Armenian community in Sydney.
The walk, which began at Hyde Park and went through Elizabeth Street, Martin Place and Macquarie Street, culminated in a wreath laying ceremony at the Armenian Genocide memorial monument at the NSW State Parliament House.
Contact: AYF Public Affairs Committee – 0409 572 958
