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GENOCIDE RECOGNITION IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ASSYRIANS
By Linda Abraham
Assyrian International News Agency AINA
Oct 1 2012
Assyrian Genocide Research Center interviews Mr. Hermiz Shahen,
Deputy Secretary General Assyrian Universal Alliance.
Mr. Hermiz Shahen was born in 1953 in Kirkuk-Iraq. His parents moved
to the city of Mosul (Nineveh Province) when he was one year old. He
completed his bachelor degree in Science, majoring in Physics in 1974,
and left Iraq in 1981 against his will after facing interrogation
and harassment from Ba'ath Intelligence agents.
Mr Shahen joined the Assyrian Universal Alliance in 1983, and in 1994;
he was elected to the position of Chairman of the Australia Branch. He
was appointed Chapter Secretary in 1997. Mr. Shahen has taken part
in a number o f projects, such as the successful effort to have the
Assyrian genocide recognized by the New South Wales Local Government
Association at their conference in 2002; Lodgment of a successful
petition during 2005 that was tabled in Federal Parliament by the Hon.
Chris Bowen MP, asking for a 'protected administrative area" for the
Assyrians in Iraq, and the establishment of Assyria Parliamentary
Friendship Group in the State Parliament of New South Wales in 2009.
Mr. Shahen has attended many AUA worldwide congresses and conferences
in different countries, in July 2000, he was a member of an AUA
delegation that participate d in the Human Rights Commission conference
on Indigenous Populations in the United Nations/Geneva; He attended
the General Assembly meeting of the Unrepresented Nation & Peoples
Organization (UNPO) in Taipei --Taiwan from 26-29 October 2006; He
attended the Syriac Universal Alliance Conference in Beirut, Lebanon
in May 2000, and the Conference of Assyrian Political Organizations
in Holland during May 2003 and March 2004.
What inspired you to get involved with the Assyrian Universal Alliance
(AUA)?
Since my childhood, I have been dreaming that one day our Assyrian
nation will be liberated from oppression and live freely in our
ancestral Homeland. Since then, I have written stories about the
future of our people and poems calling for the liberation of Assyria.
When I left my homeland - Iraq against my will in 1981, I was under a
lot of stress trying to do something to help my people back home and
to tell the story of injustice they are facing by the fascist regime
of Iraq .I started looking for any platform that can serve my purpose.
After interacti on with different Assyrian political parties, which
lasted almost two years, I chose to work with the Assyrian Universal
Alliance (AUA) for the following reasons:
I found that most of our political parties are formed to represent a
specific segment of our people. They have their own internal political
structure where not all the people can participate in the selection
of these parties leadership, their party members are established to
serve our national interest within the frame of their own group or
countries such as; Iraq, Syria and Turkey, committed to the political
ideology of their own party and will only promote their own aims,
their only accountability is to their political Leadership and not
the nation at large, and many other factors. However, being living
in the west, I found that AUA can be a powerful and effective voice
for the Assyrians globally and that working within the Alliance is
strictly voluntary and through existing and established organizations
and institutions, which represent majority of our people in a given
country. Considering this framework and structure of AUA, I found that
I could work more freely without being subject to pressures. That is
why I joined the AUA for the last 30 years and with pride.
Why is the Genocide issue important for you and your organization?
I have grown up in a family who have suffered deeply in the genocide
during WW1, and the cruelty of the governments that ruled over our
homeland in the regions; South East Turkey, North West of Iran and
northern Iraq. I used to hear the sad stories from my late father who
was only five years old when both his parents were killed during the
Assyrian genocide in WW1, by the Ottomans in Turkey. He also lost his
younger brother, who went missing during this genocide. As a result,
he was sent to Mosul, along with a group of orphans. The same stories I
used to hear from my grandmother who fled from Uremia in Iran to Russia
and then to exile in Siberia. These stories have left deep marks in
my mind and heart. I personally was looking for any opportunity to
bring the genocide issue to surface. This became possible when AUA-
Australian Chapter received an invitation to attend an International
conference "portraits of Christian Asia minor conference on the
indigenous Christian peoples of Asia minor" (Hellenes, Armenians and
Assyrians), at Macquarie University, in Sydney --Australia, between
18 to 19 September 1999. AUA worked hard with the Assyrian Australian
Academic Society to make that conference a great success. The Turkish
Government tried hard to close this conference but the University
did not agree, they insisted that they will send a Turkish National
residing in London to speak in denials of the genocide on behalf of
t he Turkish Government, the Turkish councilor and representative
of other Turkish organizations attended that conference. Since then,
AUA in Australia advocated the Assyrian genocide issue and seeks the
governmental recognition.
Could you please tell us about your activities regarding this important
issue in Australia?
In June 200 2 the Assyrian Universal Alliance had written to Fairfield
City, requesting their support for AUA submission for the recognition
of the Assyrian Genocide by the New South Wales Council Association
(which represented 176 councils at that time in the State of NSW). The
recognition was intended to help us to apply for erecting a genocide
monument on Council public land. We were very pleased that the matter
was discussed at the Local Government Association Executive meeting
on 16 August 2002, which later resolved unanimously to support the
recognition of the genocide perpetrated against the Assyrian people
in the period 1914-1918. It was also resolved that information about
the matter be placed on the Lgov NSW web site, that the matter be
raised at the National General Assembly of Local Government, and
that the Premier of NSW and the Prime Minister be asked to support
the recognition of the Assyrian Genocide. Since then we started
regularly working on the genocide issue by inviting scholars to Sydney
to present to our Assyrian people and to our parliamentarians facts
about the genocide. Aiming to be able to get the genocide recognised
on governmental level. Never the less, continued work on the genocide
issue led us to erect with pride and dignity, the Assyrian genocide
monument in the centre of Fairfield district despite all the obstacles.
Is there a relationship if any between the Armenian National Committee
of Australia and AUA?
We have a very active and strong relationship with the ANC in Australia
for the past 5-6 years, which is reflected through meetings between
both committees, and collaboration in conducting meetings with
members of Parliament both State and Federal. AUA -- Young Assyrians
also joined advocacy programs organised by the ANC in the Federal
Parliament of Australia. We also attend regularly many functions and
commemorations organised by them.
Where does AUA Chapter of Australia stand in pursuing the recognition
of the Assyrian Genocide by the Australian parliament?
Going through what I have said before, you will see that AUA-Australian
chapter have managed to build a foundation to obtain future recognition
of the Assyrian genocide, which started by involving AUA in taking
part and organising genocide conferences in the State Parliament of
NSW. Every 7th August, we used to hold a big commemoration of the
Assyrian Martyrs day, in collaboration with the Assyrian Church of
the East, at the Church reception after the mass, which u sed to
be packed by more than one thousand parishioners. The aim besides
remembering and paying our respect to the souls and memory of the
Assyrian Martyrs, was also intended to educate our people about this
genocide and the necessity of obtaining recognition. We had invited
scholars such as; Dr. Abdul Massih Saadi, Dr. Panayiotis Diamadis,
Malfono Sabri Atman, the late Lena Yackobova, Dr. Anahit Khosroyeva,
Dr. Racho Donef, Mr.Stavros T. Stavridis and many ot hers to speak
in genocide conferences and to our Youth so that we can have more
facts on our hands when we seek this genocide recognition.
After a historical day of unveiling the beautiful memorial monument
in Australia, and all that your organization has done for Seyfo, What
is the next goal in regards to recognition of the Assyrian Genocide?
Erecting the Assyrian genocide monument in a public place at
Bonnyrigg in south-west Sydney was an eye opener to the worldwide
Assyrians, to the Turkish government and the Australian public in
general. Its erection has angered Turkey and could jeopardise th e
relation between Turkey Australia and New Zealand. The Australian
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been seeking discussions
with the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to resolve delays in
visas for Australian archaeologists travelling to Turkey. Turkish
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Selcuk Unal said; that Turkey condemned
opening of a so-called "Assyrian Genocide" Monument in Fairfield
region of Sydney on August 7, which "distorted history and accused
Turkey"."We express regret over participation of federal executives
to this intentional activity which will not have any contribution to
relations of the two countries," Unal told a written statement.
The monument was erected for noble intention, to educate mankind the
importance of remembering and learning fr om such dark chapters in
human history, to ensure that such crimes against humanity is not
allowed to be repeated. This monument will stand against any attempt
to use the passage of time and political influence to deny or distort
the historical truth of the genocide of the Assyrians, Armenians and
pontic Greeks. I am very pleased to say that two major achievements
were made just this year. In April 2012, we traveled to Armenia to
take part in the official unveiling of the Assyrian genocide monument
in Yerevan organized by the Assyrian Universal Alliance --Armenian
Chapter and in May 2012, we traveled to South Australia to attend the
official unveiling of the a genocide monument dedicated for the first
time, to the victims of the three nations- the Assyrians , Armenians
and Greeks and was organised by the Assyrian Universal Alliance --
Australian Chapter, the Pontian Brotherhood of South Australia, and
the Armenian Cultural Association of South Australia.We wil l continue
our efforts with our friends the Armenians and Greeks, in order for
the Australian Federal Government, as well as other countries, to
condemn these heinous acts committed against the three nations. We
will urge all international humanitarian institutions to pressure
Turkey to acknowledge and apologise for the atrocities its Ottoman
leaders committed against their Assyrian, Armenian and Pontic Greek
citizens during World War I.
Often we hear about AUA activities around the Genocide issue in
Australia. Where and when can we expect to see similar activities in
other Assyrian international communities?
The genocide recognition is very important to our nation, Assyrians
should be encouraged worldwide to follow Australia's efforts. During
the genocide, Assyrians lost all their territories within the borders
of modern Turkey. At least 750,000 Assyrians were exterminated in
unbelievable horror scenes of massacres and deportations, and thousands
of children and women were abducted and forced into Turkification,
Kurdification and Islamisation. Therefore, we call upon our people
everywhere to support Seyfo. As we can see in recent years, history
is repeating itsel f for the Assyrian nation. Our people are being
systematically driven out from our ancestral lands in Iraq and
Syria. Assyrians have been subject to gross violations of their
rights. Murder, rape, assault, and forced conversions to Islam have
become commonplace as armed death squads attempt to force Assyrians
out of their habitats. After almost a century of lost lives, tragedy
and grief, Assyrians deserve recognition and an apology, not for the
sake of an almost-annihilated nation, but for the justice owed to
the fallen innocents whose cries for rectitude ring ever louder.
http://www.aina.org/news/20121001191904.htm
From: Baghdasarian
By Linda Abraham
Assyrian International News Agency AINA
Oct 1 2012
Assyrian Genocide Research Center interviews Mr. Hermiz Shahen,
Deputy Secretary General Assyrian Universal Alliance.
Mr. Hermiz Shahen was born in 1953 in Kirkuk-Iraq. His parents moved
to the city of Mosul (Nineveh Province) when he was one year old. He
completed his bachelor degree in Science, majoring in Physics in 1974,
and left Iraq in 1981 against his will after facing interrogation
and harassment from Ba'ath Intelligence agents.
Mr Shahen joined the Assyrian Universal Alliance in 1983, and in 1994;
he was elected to the position of Chairman of the Australia Branch. He
was appointed Chapter Secretary in 1997. Mr. Shahen has taken part
in a number o f projects, such as the successful effort to have the
Assyrian genocide recognized by the New South Wales Local Government
Association at their conference in 2002; Lodgment of a successful
petition during 2005 that was tabled in Federal Parliament by the Hon.
Chris Bowen MP, asking for a 'protected administrative area" for the
Assyrians in Iraq, and the establishment of Assyria Parliamentary
Friendship Group in the State Parliament of New South Wales in 2009.
Mr. Shahen has attended many AUA worldwide congresses and conferences
in different countries, in July 2000, he was a member of an AUA
delegation that participate d in the Human Rights Commission conference
on Indigenous Populations in the United Nations/Geneva; He attended
the General Assembly meeting of the Unrepresented Nation & Peoples
Organization (UNPO) in Taipei --Taiwan from 26-29 October 2006; He
attended the Syriac Universal Alliance Conference in Beirut, Lebanon
in May 2000, and the Conference of Assyrian Political Organizations
in Holland during May 2003 and March 2004.
What inspired you to get involved with the Assyrian Universal Alliance
(AUA)?
Since my childhood, I have been dreaming that one day our Assyrian
nation will be liberated from oppression and live freely in our
ancestral Homeland. Since then, I have written stories about the
future of our people and poems calling for the liberation of Assyria.
When I left my homeland - Iraq against my will in 1981, I was under a
lot of stress trying to do something to help my people back home and
to tell the story of injustice they are facing by the fascist regime
of Iraq .I started looking for any platform that can serve my purpose.
After interacti on with different Assyrian political parties, which
lasted almost two years, I chose to work with the Assyrian Universal
Alliance (AUA) for the following reasons:
I found that most of our political parties are formed to represent a
specific segment of our people. They have their own internal political
structure where not all the people can participate in the selection
of these parties leadership, their party members are established to
serve our national interest within the frame of their own group or
countries such as; Iraq, Syria and Turkey, committed to the political
ideology of their own party and will only promote their own aims,
their only accountability is to their political Leadership and not
the nation at large, and many other factors. However, being living
in the west, I found that AUA can be a powerful and effective voice
for the Assyrians globally and that working within the Alliance is
strictly voluntary and through existing and established organizations
and institutions, which represent majority of our people in a given
country. Considering this framework and structure of AUA, I found that
I could work more freely without being subject to pressures. That is
why I joined the AUA for the last 30 years and with pride.
Why is the Genocide issue important for you and your organization?
I have grown up in a family who have suffered deeply in the genocide
during WW1, and the cruelty of the governments that ruled over our
homeland in the regions; South East Turkey, North West of Iran and
northern Iraq. I used to hear the sad stories from my late father who
was only five years old when both his parents were killed during the
Assyrian genocide in WW1, by the Ottomans in Turkey. He also lost his
younger brother, who went missing during this genocide. As a result,
he was sent to Mosul, along with a group of orphans. The same stories I
used to hear from my grandmother who fled from Uremia in Iran to Russia
and then to exile in Siberia. These stories have left deep marks in
my mind and heart. I personally was looking for any opportunity to
bring the genocide issue to surface. This became possible when AUA-
Australian Chapter received an invitation to attend an International
conference "portraits of Christian Asia minor conference on the
indigenous Christian peoples of Asia minor" (Hellenes, Armenians and
Assyrians), at Macquarie University, in Sydney --Australia, between
18 to 19 September 1999. AUA worked hard with the Assyrian Australian
Academic Society to make that conference a great success. The Turkish
Government tried hard to close this conference but the University
did not agree, they insisted that they will send a Turkish National
residing in London to speak in denials of the genocide on behalf of
t he Turkish Government, the Turkish councilor and representative
of other Turkish organizations attended that conference. Since then,
AUA in Australia advocated the Assyrian genocide issue and seeks the
governmental recognition.
Could you please tell us about your activities regarding this important
issue in Australia?
In June 200 2 the Assyrian Universal Alliance had written to Fairfield
City, requesting their support for AUA submission for the recognition
of the Assyrian Genocide by the New South Wales Council Association
(which represented 176 councils at that time in the State of NSW). The
recognition was intended to help us to apply for erecting a genocide
monument on Council public land. We were very pleased that the matter
was discussed at the Local Government Association Executive meeting
on 16 August 2002, which later resolved unanimously to support the
recognition of the genocide perpetrated against the Assyrian people
in the period 1914-1918. It was also resolved that information about
the matter be placed on the Lgov NSW web site, that the matter be
raised at the National General Assembly of Local Government, and
that the Premier of NSW and the Prime Minister be asked to support
the recognition of the Assyrian Genocide. Since then we started
regularly working on the genocide issue by inviting scholars to Sydney
to present to our Assyrian people and to our parliamentarians facts
about the genocide. Aiming to be able to get the genocide recognised
on governmental level. Never the less, continued work on the genocide
issue led us to erect with pride and dignity, the Assyrian genocide
monument in the centre of Fairfield district despite all the obstacles.
Is there a relationship if any between the Armenian National Committee
of Australia and AUA?
We have a very active and strong relationship with the ANC in Australia
for the past 5-6 years, which is reflected through meetings between
both committees, and collaboration in conducting meetings with
members of Parliament both State and Federal. AUA -- Young Assyrians
also joined advocacy programs organised by the ANC in the Federal
Parliament of Australia. We also attend regularly many functions and
commemorations organised by them.
Where does AUA Chapter of Australia stand in pursuing the recognition
of the Assyrian Genocide by the Australian parliament?
Going through what I have said before, you will see that AUA-Australian
chapter have managed to build a foundation to obtain future recognition
of the Assyrian genocide, which started by involving AUA in taking
part and organising genocide conferences in the State Parliament of
NSW. Every 7th August, we used to hold a big commemoration of the
Assyrian Martyrs day, in collaboration with the Assyrian Church of
the East, at the Church reception after the mass, which u sed to
be packed by more than one thousand parishioners. The aim besides
remembering and paying our respect to the souls and memory of the
Assyrian Martyrs, was also intended to educate our people about this
genocide and the necessity of obtaining recognition. We had invited
scholars such as; Dr. Abdul Massih Saadi, Dr. Panayiotis Diamadis,
Malfono Sabri Atman, the late Lena Yackobova, Dr. Anahit Khosroyeva,
Dr. Racho Donef, Mr.Stavros T. Stavridis and many ot hers to speak
in genocide conferences and to our Youth so that we can have more
facts on our hands when we seek this genocide recognition.
After a historical day of unveiling the beautiful memorial monument
in Australia, and all that your organization has done for Seyfo, What
is the next goal in regards to recognition of the Assyrian Genocide?
Erecting the Assyrian genocide monument in a public place at
Bonnyrigg in south-west Sydney was an eye opener to the worldwide
Assyrians, to the Turkish government and the Australian public in
general. Its erection has angered Turkey and could jeopardise th e
relation between Turkey Australia and New Zealand. The Australian
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been seeking discussions
with the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to resolve delays in
visas for Australian archaeologists travelling to Turkey. Turkish
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Selcuk Unal said; that Turkey condemned
opening of a so-called "Assyrian Genocide" Monument in Fairfield
region of Sydney on August 7, which "distorted history and accused
Turkey"."We express regret over participation of federal executives
to this intentional activity which will not have any contribution to
relations of the two countries," Unal told a written statement.
The monument was erected for noble intention, to educate mankind the
importance of remembering and learning fr om such dark chapters in
human history, to ensure that such crimes against humanity is not
allowed to be repeated. This monument will stand against any attempt
to use the passage of time and political influence to deny or distort
the historical truth of the genocide of the Assyrians, Armenians and
pontic Greeks. I am very pleased to say that two major achievements
were made just this year. In April 2012, we traveled to Armenia to
take part in the official unveiling of the Assyrian genocide monument
in Yerevan organized by the Assyrian Universal Alliance --Armenian
Chapter and in May 2012, we traveled to South Australia to attend the
official unveiling of the a genocide monument dedicated for the first
time, to the victims of the three nations- the Assyrians , Armenians
and Greeks and was organised by the Assyrian Universal Alliance --
Australian Chapter, the Pontian Brotherhood of South Australia, and
the Armenian Cultural Association of South Australia.We wil l continue
our efforts with our friends the Armenians and Greeks, in order for
the Australian Federal Government, as well as other countries, to
condemn these heinous acts committed against the three nations. We
will urge all international humanitarian institutions to pressure
Turkey to acknowledge and apologise for the atrocities its Ottoman
leaders committed against their Assyrian, Armenian and Pontic Greek
citizens during World War I.
Often we hear about AUA activities around the Genocide issue in
Australia. Where and when can we expect to see similar activities in
other Assyrian international communities?
The genocide recognition is very important to our nation, Assyrians
should be encouraged worldwide to follow Australia's efforts. During
the genocide, Assyrians lost all their territories within the borders
of modern Turkey. At least 750,000 Assyrians were exterminated in
unbelievable horror scenes of massacres and deportations, and thousands
of children and women were abducted and forced into Turkification,
Kurdification and Islamisation. Therefore, we call upon our people
everywhere to support Seyfo. As we can see in recent years, history
is repeating itsel f for the Assyrian nation. Our people are being
systematically driven out from our ancestral lands in Iraq and
Syria. Assyrians have been subject to gross violations of their
rights. Murder, rape, assault, and forced conversions to Islam have
become commonplace as armed death squads attempt to force Assyrians
out of their habitats. After almost a century of lost lives, tragedy
and grief, Assyrians deserve recognition and an apology, not for the
sake of an almost-annihilated nation, but for the justice owed to
the fallen innocents whose cries for rectitude ring ever louder.
http://www.aina.org/news/20121001191904.htm
From: Baghdasarian