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PLAN FOR AN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIER TO AIR VIEWS IN PARLIAMENT HOUSE OUTRAGES ARMENIAN COMMUNITY
ABC, Australia
Nov 15 2013
Updated 8 hours 24 minutes ago
Armenian Australians are outraged that one of the worlds most strident
Armenian genocide deniers, Professor Justin McCarthy, will be allowed
to present his views next week in Parliament House.
Michael Brissenden
TRANSCRIPT
STEVE CANNANE, PRESENTER: The Government hopes to give as many
Australians as possible the chance to win access to the Gallipoli
Peninsula on the 100th anniversary of Anzac Day in 2015 and has
announced the ballot for places will open this weekend.
But the parliament is also hosting an event that many believe will
deny an even bigger historical tragedy, the Armenian genocide that
began just before Australian troops landed at Anzac Cove.
Defence correspondent Michael Brissenden reports.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN, REPORTER: It's become the defining moment of
Australian legend. A national mythology forged on the beaches of
Gallipoli.
What few Australians realise is that this day coincides with another
even more tragic anniversary. For Armenians, April 2015 marks the
centenary of the start of the darkest chapter of their history.
Genocide scholars say that from 1915 to 1923, more than a million
Armenians lost their lives at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.
The Turks have long denied the charge and only recently pledged to
ban NSW politicians entirely from the Gallipoli celebrations after
the NSW Parliament passed a motion recognising the Armenian genocide.
>From time to time there have also been calls from the Federal
Parliament to do the same.
(EXTRACT FROM PARLIAMENT NOVEMBER 21, 2011)
MALCOLM TURNBULL, FMR SHADOW MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: The
elimination, the execution, the murder of hundreds of thousands of
millions of people for no reason other than that they were different,
in this case that they were not Turks, just as the Jews were eliminated
because they were not Germans.
JOE HOCKEY, FORMER SHADOW TREASURER: This is not an issue of
discussion, it's not an issue of definition. Any systematic eradication
of a race is genocide regardless of the political or social unease
it may bring.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: But it seems it will be an issue for discussion
here in Parliament House next week.
This flier is an invitation to a presentation in one of these committee
rooms booked by the Labor member, Laurie Ferguson. The presentation
will be delivered by one of the world's most strident genocide deniers.
The special presentation will be delivered by Dr Jennifer Lawless from
the NSW Education Department's Board of Studies and Professor Justin
McCarthy, an American history academic. When it comes to genocide
denial, McCarthy is considered by Armenians to be what David Irving
is to the Jewish Holocaust.
McCarthy holds a number of honorary Turkish doctorates and campaigns
against the recognition of the Armenian genocide.
As this clip from a conference in Germany shows, his views are
unequivocal.
(EXTRACT FROM CONFERENCE)
PROFESSOR JUSTIN MCCARTHY: They have no evidence, no facts, no proof
that says that the Turks wanted to act this way. What is said is
based on emotion and in this case and a desire to prove that there
is a genocide instead of first looking at the facts.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Although it's known as the Armenian genocide,
thousands of Assyrians and Pontian Greeks were also killed.
Genocide scholar Panayiotis Diamadis says all three communities will be
alarmed that such an address is being held in the Federal Parliament.
PANAYIOTIS DIAMADIS, GENOCIDE SCHOLAR: Anger, disgust that an official
forum - such an official forum as Federal Parliament is being given
to a man who denies the memory of the victims, who denies that this
genocide occurred.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Lateline contacted Laurie Ferguson's office for
a comment. So far none has been forthcoming.
As we've seen, Joe Hockey, Malcolm Turnbull and a number of other
Federal politicians have raised the issue of the Armenian genocide
in parliament in the past. None of those contacted by the ABC wanted
to add to what they've already said.
Clearly, the sensitivity surrounding our relationship with Turkey
is in even more focus as we head towards the Gallipoli anniversary,
although it's understood another attempt will be made to get the
Federal Parliament to recognise the genocide after April 2015.
Michael Brissenden, Lateline.
Watch video at
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-15/plan-for-an-armenian-genocide-denier-to-air-views/5096408
ABC, Australia
Nov 15 2013
Updated 8 hours 24 minutes ago
Armenian Australians are outraged that one of the worlds most strident
Armenian genocide deniers, Professor Justin McCarthy, will be allowed
to present his views next week in Parliament House.
Michael Brissenden
TRANSCRIPT
STEVE CANNANE, PRESENTER: The Government hopes to give as many
Australians as possible the chance to win access to the Gallipoli
Peninsula on the 100th anniversary of Anzac Day in 2015 and has
announced the ballot for places will open this weekend.
But the parliament is also hosting an event that many believe will
deny an even bigger historical tragedy, the Armenian genocide that
began just before Australian troops landed at Anzac Cove.
Defence correspondent Michael Brissenden reports.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN, REPORTER: It's become the defining moment of
Australian legend. A national mythology forged on the beaches of
Gallipoli.
What few Australians realise is that this day coincides with another
even more tragic anniversary. For Armenians, April 2015 marks the
centenary of the start of the darkest chapter of their history.
Genocide scholars say that from 1915 to 1923, more than a million
Armenians lost their lives at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.
The Turks have long denied the charge and only recently pledged to
ban NSW politicians entirely from the Gallipoli celebrations after
the NSW Parliament passed a motion recognising the Armenian genocide.
>From time to time there have also been calls from the Federal
Parliament to do the same.
(EXTRACT FROM PARLIAMENT NOVEMBER 21, 2011)
MALCOLM TURNBULL, FMR SHADOW MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: The
elimination, the execution, the murder of hundreds of thousands of
millions of people for no reason other than that they were different,
in this case that they were not Turks, just as the Jews were eliminated
because they were not Germans.
JOE HOCKEY, FORMER SHADOW TREASURER: This is not an issue of
discussion, it's not an issue of definition. Any systematic eradication
of a race is genocide regardless of the political or social unease
it may bring.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: But it seems it will be an issue for discussion
here in Parliament House next week.
This flier is an invitation to a presentation in one of these committee
rooms booked by the Labor member, Laurie Ferguson. The presentation
will be delivered by one of the world's most strident genocide deniers.
The special presentation will be delivered by Dr Jennifer Lawless from
the NSW Education Department's Board of Studies and Professor Justin
McCarthy, an American history academic. When it comes to genocide
denial, McCarthy is considered by Armenians to be what David Irving
is to the Jewish Holocaust.
McCarthy holds a number of honorary Turkish doctorates and campaigns
against the recognition of the Armenian genocide.
As this clip from a conference in Germany shows, his views are
unequivocal.
(EXTRACT FROM CONFERENCE)
PROFESSOR JUSTIN MCCARTHY: They have no evidence, no facts, no proof
that says that the Turks wanted to act this way. What is said is
based on emotion and in this case and a desire to prove that there
is a genocide instead of first looking at the facts.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Although it's known as the Armenian genocide,
thousands of Assyrians and Pontian Greeks were also killed.
Genocide scholar Panayiotis Diamadis says all three communities will be
alarmed that such an address is being held in the Federal Parliament.
PANAYIOTIS DIAMADIS, GENOCIDE SCHOLAR: Anger, disgust that an official
forum - such an official forum as Federal Parliament is being given
to a man who denies the memory of the victims, who denies that this
genocide occurred.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Lateline contacted Laurie Ferguson's office for
a comment. So far none has been forthcoming.
As we've seen, Joe Hockey, Malcolm Turnbull and a number of other
Federal politicians have raised the issue of the Armenian genocide
in parliament in the past. None of those contacted by the ABC wanted
to add to what they've already said.
Clearly, the sensitivity surrounding our relationship with Turkey
is in even more focus as we head towards the Gallipoli anniversary,
although it's understood another attempt will be made to get the
Federal Parliament to recognise the genocide after April 2015.
Michael Brissenden, Lateline.
Watch video at
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-15/plan-for-an-armenian-genocide-denier-to-air-views/5096408