Press Release: AYF members safe in Lebanon
Armenian Youth Federation of Australia
PO Box 238, Willoughby, NSW Australia 2068
publicaffairs@ayfaustralia.com
www.ayfaustralia.com
PRESS RELEASE
15 July 2006
AYF MEMBERS SAFE IN LEBANON
PO Box 238, Willoughby, NSW Australia 2068
publicaffairs@ayfaustralia.com
www.ayfaustralia.com
PRESS RELEASE
15 July 2006
AYF MEMBERS SAFE IN LEBANON
Four members of the Armenian Youth Federation of Australia are among the touring dance troupe trapped in under-attack Lebanon.
Approximately 80 members of the Sydney Armenian Community dance group, most of them young children and teenagers, are among many Australians currently stranded in Beirut.
The Hamazkaine Sevan Dance Group was returning home, via Beirut, from an invitation performance tour of Armenia, when Beirut international airport was bombed by the Israeli air force during the recently heightened conflict.
They are now stranded in what appears to be quickly becoming a war-zone, leaving many very concerned.
AYF Australia members, Nejteh Demirian, Soseh Demirian, Garbis Kolokossian and Tamar Gulumian, are among those stranded.
The AYF Australia Nigol Touman Executive has made contact with the home-based families of their members and was advised that they are safely in their hotels.
“They are in constant contact with the Australian embassy and are pushing for the government here to help them exit what is becoming an escalating war zone,” one family member said.
“They are in no immediate danger, being in a hotel in a reputedly safe area, but naturally the longer this lasts, the more worried we all become.”
AYF Australia Chairperson Kevork Tufenkjian said he was attempting to contact his fellow members in Beirut, and it was his hope that they will safely return home soon.
“Our prayers are definitely with our friends trapped in Lebanon,” he said.
“We join the Armenian National Committee in thanking the Federal Government for doing all in their power to ensure all Australian nationals return home as soon as they consider it safe to do so.”
He added: “Our members were among the majority of the touring dancers set to return home on Friday, but have now been told to lay low in their hotel until advised otherwise by the Australian embassy.”
“Our thoughts are with them and their families, and we pledge to do all we can to see them return home safely.”
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