3242) AGCC (Armenian National Committee of Australia) Announces April 2011 Commemorative Events

The Armenian National Committee of Australia is the largest and most influential Armenian-Australian grassroots political organisation.

Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Australia and affiliated organisations around the world, the ANC Australia actively advances the concerns of the Armenian-Australian community on a broad range of issues.

The Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee has released the schedule of events to commemorate the 96th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Sydney and Melbourne.

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SYDNEY

Friday, 15th April
Western Sydney Region Commemoration Evening
7:30pm, Armenian Cultural Panoyan Centre, 682 Cabramatta Road Bonnyrigg NSW
Keynote Speaker: Vache Kahramanian, ANC Australia Political Affairs Director

Saturday, 16th April
Melbourne Region Commemoration Evening
7:30pm, Theatre One, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria
Keynote Speaker: Dr Donna Lee-Freize, Deakin University

Saturday, 16th April
Ryde Council Memorial
2:30pm, Meadow Crescent, Meadowbank NSW

Monday, 18th April
Sydney Commemoration Evening
7:30pm, Ryde Civic Centre, Ryde, NSW
Keynote Speaker: Prof. Robert Kaplan, University of Wollongong

Tuesday, 19th April
Wreath Laying Ceremony & Armenian Genocide Commemorative Lecture
7pm, NSW State Parliament House, Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW
Keynote Speaker: Prof. Robert Kaplan, University of Wollongong
*Buses departing Ararat Scout Hall, Ryde and Armenian Cultural Centre, Willoughby at 6:15pm

Saturday, 23rd April
Wreath Laying Ceremony
12:30pm, Sydney Cenotaph, Martin Place Sydney NSW

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Dr Frieze to present at Melbourne Genocide Commemoration
April 1, 2011


MELBOURNE: Research Fellow in the School of History, Heritage and Society at Deakin University, Dr Donna Lee Frieze has been confirmed as the guest of the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee to keynote next month's 96th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Melbourne, Australia.

Frieze, a long-time supporter of the Armenian-Australian community, has published on the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, the Bosnian genocide and Raphael Lemkin.

In November of 2010, along with other members of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Frieze participated in the Armenian Genocide Conference hosted in Yerevan by the Government of Armenia to mark the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Earlier last year, Frieze contributed to the creation of a permanent Armenian Genocide display in the Melbourne Jewish Holocaust Museum. She has also made representations to media outlets on behalf of the Armenian-Australian community to challenge genocide denial.

Varant Meguerditchian of the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee said: "Dr Frieze has tirelessly worked to raise awareness of the Armenian Genocide in Australia.”

"We are pleased to have Dr Frieze deliver the keynote address at this year’s commemoration in Melbourne where she will share with the community her experiences from the genocide conference in Armenia."

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Commemorative evening in Melbourne

Saturday, 16th April
Melbourne Armenian Genocide Commemoration Evening
7:30pm Theatre One, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria
Keynote Speaker: Dr Donna Lee Frieze

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Alexander acknowledges Armenian Genocide in Parliament
March 25, 2011

SYDNEY: John Alexander MP used a Constituency Address in Parliament to affirm his position on the Armenian Genocide, while paying tribute to the Armenian-Australian community of Bennelong.

The statement on Thursday afternoon came after a meeting with the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) earlier in the week during which Alexander pledged to advocate for recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the Federal Parliament of Australia.

"An issue of great importance to this community is the lack of appropriate recognition of the Genocide by the Ottoman Empire," said Alexander.

"To Bennelong’s constituents of Armenian heritage, I extend to you my full support, as you carry this burden that weighs so heavily on your collective conscience."

ANC Australia Executive Director Varant Meguerditchian described the statement as the first step in Alexander’s advocacy efforts.

He said: "Mr. Alexander has now placed on parliamentary record his affirmation of the historical reality of the Armenian Genocide."

"We thank Mr. Alexander and trust that as representative for the most heavily populated Armenian-Australian electorate he will champion the cause for Armenian Genocide recognition in the Federal Parliament of Australia."

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Berejiklian set for key role as Liberals and Nationals take NSW
March 29, 2011
SYDNEY: The Liberal (LIB) and National Coalition defeated the Labor Party (ALP) in the NSW State Election on Saturday 26 March, making Barry O’Farrell the first Liberal Premier of NSW in 16 years.

With a momentous swing of 17.5%, the Liberal and National Coalition secured at least 64 of the 93 seats in the NSW Legislative Assembly.

Premier-elect O’Farrell, speaking from Liberal Party celebrations at the Parramatta Leagues Club, declared this was a result to "make New South Wales number one again". O’Farrell, who ensured that he would govern for everyone in the state, said: "I am incredibly proud of tonight’s historic and unprecedented result. And I promise we won’t let you down."

Amongst the winners on election night was Liberal MP Gladys Berejiklian, who is the Member for Willoughby and a former Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) board member.

Graciously accepting victory on ABC television, Berejiklian said: "Our first job will be to focus on rebuilding infrastructure and we’re going to hit the ground running."

In an interview with ABC TV immediately after accepting victory, O’Farrell declared that Berejiklian had been an outstanding Shadow Minister and would make a brilliant Minister in the Parliament.

Berejiklian must now wait until the swearing-in of Ministers by the Governor of NSW before assuming her new position, which is rumoured to be in the Transport portfolio and will make her the first Armenian Minister in an Australian state.

ANC Australia had met with sitting members and candidates prior to the election to bring attention to Armenian issues, including the Armenian Genocide, Nagorno Karabakh and the Armenian-Australian community growth.

ANC Australia Executive Director Varant Meguerditchian said: "We wish to congratulate Mr O’Farrell and the Liberal National Coalition as they have been chosen to lead this state over the next four years."

"We look forward to having newly elected members make representations on behalf of all Armenian-Australians in the coming parliamentary term."

ANC Australia is also pleased to report the following key results for Armenian-Australians:

Gladys Berejiklian secures 80% in the seat of Willoughby in a two party preferred calculation;

Most MPs with whom ANC Australia met with in the lead up to the election - Brad Hazzard, Nick Lalich, Mike Baird, Anthony Roberts, Rob Stokes, Jonathan O’Dea and Victor Dominello - retained their Armenian-Australian populated seats across Sydney’s North and West;

While Andrew Rohan replaced Ninos Khoshaba as the Member for the Armenian-Australian populated seat of Smithfield in Sydney’s West.

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Professor Kaplan to keynote Sydney Armenian Genocide Commemoration
March 25, 2011

SYDNEY: Forensic psychiatrist, writer and historian Professor Robert Kaplan has been confirmed as the guest of the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee to keynote next month's 96th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Sydney, Australia.

Kaplan’s book, 'Medical Murder: Disturbing Tales of Doctors Who Kill', which explores the role of doctors in human rights abuse and genocide was published in 2009.

Since that time the Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Wollongong has been committed to achieving international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Varant Meguerditchian of the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee said: "In the last year Prof. Kaplan has been interviewed by the ABC as an expert on the Armenian Genocide.”

"We are pleased to have him deliver the keynote address at this year’s joint commemoration where he will share his studies with our community, our friends and our Federal and NSW parliamentary guests."

The Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee confirmed details of the official Armenian Genocide Commemoration Evening which will have Kaplan as keynote speaker, while further details of commemoration week will be released in coming days.

Monday, 18th April
Armenian Genocide Commemoration Evening
7:30pm Ryde Civic Centre, Ryde, NSW

Keynote Speaker: Professor Robert Kaplan
Clinical Associate Professor
Graduate School of Medicine, University of Wollongong

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Armenian, Hellenic leaders promote Federal Genocide recognition

March 25, 2011
The Peak Public Affairs Committee of the Armenian-Australian Community

CANBERRA: A joint delegation of the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) and the Australian Hellenic Council (AHC) was at in Canberra this week to advocate for recognition of the Armenian and Hellenic Genocides by the Federal government of Australia.

The delegates visited the offices of various legislators where they discussed issues of interest to the Armenian-Australian and Hellenic-Australian communities, and furthered the cause for Federal recognition of the Armenian and Hellenic Genocides.

At the meetings, representatives of ANC Australia and the AHC presented a multimedia pack containing information regarding the Armenian and Hellenic Genocides, the eyewitness testimonies of Australian prisoners of war and Australian relief efforts to aid the survivors of the genocides.

ANC Australia Executive Director Varant Meguerditchian said: "Our activity with the Australian Hellenic Council in the federal parliament has attracted the attention of very many legislators."

"We will continue to work with the Australian Hellenic Council and others to ensure that our elected representatives are made aware that genocide recognition remains important to numerous community groups in Australia."

After the Canberra meetings, AHC NSW President George Vellis summed up the reason for the joint efforts.

He said: "At the heart of concerns of the more than 1,000,000 Australians of Hellenic, Armenian and Assyrian descent, lies the recognition of the Hellenic, Armenian and Assyrian Genocides by the Federal government of Australia."

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ANC AUSTRALIA ACTION ALERT
Condemn Turkish Ambassador Oguz Ozge for his attempt to:
influence Australian politics, use Gallipoli as a bargaining chip, and spread his government's denialist agenda!

Ambassador Oguz Ozge has refused visas for 2 Australian archaeologists and threatened the future of a planned survey of Gallipoli battlefields, where so many Australians lost their lives.

The reason for his threat is that in Fairfield NSW, a monument was erected condemning the genocide of 750,000 Assyrians at the hands of Ottoman Turkey.

This bullying tactic is typical of Turkey's current Administration, which denies its predecessors committed the Armenian Genocide, the Assyrian Genocide and the Hellenic Genocide.

The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) stands united with the Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) and the Australian Hellenic Council of NSW (AHC-NSW) in condemnation of Ambassador Ozge and the Turkish government.

We request that the government of Australia stands up to this unethical interference in its affairs by a foreign diplomat.

Australia, and our sacred history in Gallipoli, cannot and should not be used as a bargaining chip by Turkey.

Take 30 seconds to enter your details below and send a letter to Ambassador Ozge protesting his attempt to gag Australia. .