Armenian National Committee of Australia
The Peak Public Affairs Committee of the Armenian-Australian Community
259 Penshurst Street, Willoughby NSW 2068 ~ PO Box 768, Willoughby NSW 2068
Tel: (02) 9419 8264 ~ Fax: (02) 9411 8898
Email: [email protected] ~ Website:
13 February, 2008
MEDIA RELEASE: For Immediate Release
{CONTACT: Haig Kayserian (Communications Officer) ~ 0403 317 903 ~
[email protected]}
ANC AUSTRALIA WELCOMES PM’S APOLOGY TO THE STOLEN GENERATION
SYDNEY: The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) has
welcomed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Aboriginal `Stolen
Generations’ in what is considered a fundamental step toward reconciliation
and righting past wrongs.
Addressing a packed House of Representatives in Canberra on Wednesday, Mr.
Rudd apologised to indigenous Australians, both Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander, for past laws and policies that had `inflicted profound grief,
suffering and loss on [indigenous] fellow Australians’.
`For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their
descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry,’ the Prime
Minister said.
`To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the
breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry,’ he added. `And for
the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud
culture, we say sorry.’
The Opposition, led by its leader Dr. Brendan Nelson, supported the Prime
Minister’s apology.
In a statement released today, ANC Australia President Mr. Varant
Meguerditchian described Prime Minister Rudd as `a leader with conviction’.
He stated: `Our Prime Minister has set an international moral high bar by
taking responsibility for past human rights violations and apologising
unconditionally for the wrongs of his predecessors.’
Speaking on behalf of the Armenian community of Australia, Mr Meguerditchian
added: `We hope that the Australian Parliament’s apology to the Aboriginal
people for past wrongs will set an example for, and encourage, the
Government of Turkey to abandon its denialist policy, to recognise the
Armenian Genocide and to embrace reconciliation with the Armenian people.’
The Stolen Generations (or Stolen Generation) is a term used to describe the
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, who were removed
>From their families by Australian government agencies and church missions
under various state acts of parliament, denying the rights of parents and
making all Aboriginal children wards of the state, between approximately
1869 and (officially) 1969.
During the last days of the Ottoman Empire, the Government implemented a
policy of Genocide upon its Christian Armenian population. As a result, up
to 1.5million Armenian men, women and children lost their lives between 1915
and 1922. The Armenian Genocide is yet to be recognised by the Turkish
Government.
Armenian National Committee of Australia
259 Penshurst Street, Willoughby NSW 2068
PO Box 768, Willoughby NSW 2068
T: (02) 9419 8264 | F: (02) 9411 8898
E: [email protected] | W:
The Armenian National Committee of Australia is the peak public affairs body
of the Armenian-Australian community. ANC Australia advances the concerns of
the Armenian-Australian community.
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