PRESS RELEASE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia & New Zealand
10 Macquarie Street
Chatswood NSW 2067
AUSTRALIA
Contact: Laura Artinian
Tel: (02) 9419-8056
Fax: (02) 9904-8446
Email: [email protected]
10 October 2005
RA FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS THE ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF SYDNEY
Sydney, Australia – On Sunday, 9 October, 2005 His Excellency, Mr Vartan
Oskanian, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia arrived in
Sydney with his official delegation at the invitation of the The Hon
Alexander Downer MP, Foreign Affairs Minister of Australia. The RA Minister
was welcomed at Sydney International Airport by government officials and
Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia and New Zealand,
His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian accompanied by Diocesan Councillors
and community leaders.
Mr Oskanian’s first engagement with the Armenian-Australian Community was by
attendance at the Divine Liturgy held at the Armenian Church of Holy
Resurrection. In his sermon dedicated to the 1600th anniversary of the
Armenian Alphabet on the Feast of the Holy Translators that was celebrated
on Saturday, the Primate declared the presence of the Minister to be the
crowning glory of celebration for the Community. The Minister responded to
the honour granted him to address the congregation in the Church and replied
to the warm welcome of the Primate. In response to the Primate’s sermon
where the Archbishop declared that the independence of Armenia began long
before the 14 years that is celebrated in September but some 1600 years ago
when the written Armenian language was established that would bring alive
the Word of God through the translation of the Holy Bible, the Minister
stated that the true independence of the Armenian nation began in 301 when
Christianity was adopted as the state religion.
Following the church service, the Primate hosted a luncheon in honour of the
Minister at the Prelacy that was also attended by the delegation from
Armenia and Diocesan Council.
In the afternoon, the Armenian Community gathered in large numbers at the
Austral-Armenian Association’s Galstaun Centre to welcome the Minister. Mr
Oskanian is the first Foreign Minister from the Republic of Armenia to make
an official visit to Australia. The Minister briefed the gathering on the
current state of affairs in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabagh, advocating the
important role of the Diaspora and purporting the roles of all stakeholders
in the future development of the homeland. Question time with the Community
followed the Minister’s briefing after which Mr Oskanian met with the local
Armenian media for a press conference in a closed session.
The Foreign Minister is meeting with his Australian counterpart today in the
nation’s capital, Canberra on official matters and will meet with other
Ministers and Members of Parliament throughout the course of the day. Later
this evening the Australian Foreign Minister will host a dinner at
Parliament House in honour of His Excellency Mr Vartan Oskanian. Dinner
guests will include Members of Parliament, delegates and representatives
from the Armenian-Australian Community. His Eminence Archbishop Aghan
Baliozian will also be a dinner guest of the Australian Foreign Minister.