ANC acts on Mikakos reaction
The Armenian National Committee of Australia has reacted to press reports in Victoria labelling Genocide recognition efforts by Labor MP Jenny Mikakos an attempt to "revive old conflicts".
Ms Mikakos, the Member for Jika Jika and Parliamentary Secretary for Justice, told Victorian Parliament last week: "Unlike Germany, which has taken responsibility for the Jewish holocaust, Turkey has never apologised to its victims."
"On May 19 the Pontian community in Victoria and around the world will commemorate the 87th anniversary of the Pontian genocide that occurred in present-day Turkey."
"Between 1916 and 1923, over 353,000 Pontic Greeks living in Asia Minor and in Pontus, which is near the Black Sea, died as a result of the 20th century's first but less-known genocide. Over a million Pontic Greeks were forced into exile. In the preceding years, 1.5 million Armenians and 750,000 Assyrians in various parts of Turkey also perished."
While speaking, two of Ms Mikakos' Labor colleagues, John Eren and Adem Somyurek, who are ironically of Turkish origin, heckled her, and have since called on her to apologise for offending the Turkish community.
Meanwhile, The Age has published an editorial titled "This is not the place to revive old conflicts", which the Armenian National Committee has branded "flawed" via a letter addressed to the Melbourne newspaper.
Khajaque Kortian, a Director of the ANC, writes: "Since when does a commemorative event regarding one of the worst crimes against humanity in modern times, such as the Armenian Genocide, constitute an 'old conflict' that stirs 'old hostilities and prejudices'? The only people that are offended by the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide are those who seek to deny that crime, or who are plain ignorant of recent history."
The full letter follows:
Armenian National Committee of Australia Inc.
The Peak Public Affairs Committee of the Armenian-Australian Community
259 Penshurst Street, P.O. Box 768, Willoughby NSW 2068
Tel: (02) 9419 8264 Fax: (02) 9411 8898
Email: info@anc.net.au Web: www.anc.net.au
The AgeThe Peak Public Affairs Committee of the Armenian-Australian Community
259 Penshurst Street, P.O. Box 768, Willoughby NSW 2068
Tel: (02) 9419 8264 Fax: (02) 9411 8898
Email: info@anc.net.au Web: www.anc.net.au
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor,
Whilst your Editorial dated 17 May 2006, "This is not the place to revive old conflicts" attempts to balance the importance of remembering significant events (such as the Genocide of the Armenians and subsequently the Pontian Greeks and Assyrians by the Ottoman Turkish State during World War I) and the need for multicultural harmony, its underlying message is, with respect, flawed.
Since when does a commemorative event regarding one of the worst crimes against humanity in modern times, such as the Armenian Genocide, constitute an "old conflict" that stirs "old hostilities and prejudices"?
The only people that are offended by the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide are those who seek to deny that crime, or who are plain ignorant of recent history.
In 1998, in honour of the 50th Anniversary of the U.N. Genocide Convention, over 150 distinguished international scholars (including genocide scholars) and writers such as Harold Pinter, Norman Mailer, Yehuda Bauer, John Updike and Arthur Miller signed a open letter entitled "We Commemorate the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and Condemn the Turkish Government's Denial of this Crime Against Humanity ".
That open letter stated the following regarding what they described as the "morally and intellectually bankrupt" denial of the Armenian Genocide * "Denial of genocide is the final stage of genocide. It is what Ellie Weisel has called a "double killing". Denial murders the dignity of the survivors and seeks to destroy remembrance of the crime.
In a century plagued by genocide, we affirm the moral necessity of remembering". It is with this "moral necessity of remembering" that in April 1997 the New South Wales Parliament unanimously passed a resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide (and other acts of genocide) as well as all attempts of denial of that crime.
Dozens of national, state/provincial, and municipal legislatures around the world have likewise added their voice of condemnation, including the European Parliament which has resolved that Turkey must acknowledge and redress the Armenian Genocide before it is allowed to enter the European Union.
It is ironic that those who have again recently sought to engage in this "final stage of genocide" * the ultimate act of racism, including a couple of Members of the Victorian Parliament, have cried "racial vilification" and demanded "apologies" in response to a short speech by Jenny Mikakos in the Victorian Parliament commemorating the genocidal acts of Ottoman Turkey during WWI.
It is sad to see certain of the media regurgitate this drivel without applying any critical thought, and beat-up the baseless "racial tension" spin. Surely such genocide denial should have been the subject of condemnation in Editorials and news reports, not Ms Mikakos' speech.
Contrary to your final message in your Editorial that "ethnic conflict tends to be repeated by those who allow themselves to become its prisoners", we are reminded of the famous quote of the respected Spanish-American Philosopher George Santayana "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".
Yours faithfully
Khajaque Kortian
Director, Armenian National Committee of Australia, Inc
