Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Fury Erupts Over Anzac 'Fabrication' Slur

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Fury Erupts Over Anzac 'Fabrication' Slur

    FURY ERUPTS OVER ANZAC 'FABRICATION' SLUR

    NEOS KOSMOS, HELLENIC PERSPECTIVE, AUSTRALIA
    Sept 4 2013

    Reverend Fred Nile defends the 'right to memory' as NSW Government
    considers its response to Gallipoli ban

    Michael Sweet

    With the Turkish Government describing witness accounts of the
    Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocides written by WWI Australian
    soldiers as fabrications, NSW MP Reverend Fred Nile has spoken out
    condemning the allegation.

    Mr Nile moved the original motion recognising the genocides that
    was unanimously adopted by the NSW Parliament in May, much to the
    consternation of Turkey - who as a result, threatened to ban the
    state's parliamentarians from visiting Gallipoli.

    Premier Barry O'Farrell last week described recent comments made by
    NSW's Turkish Consul General on the matter, as "a terrible indictment
    ... of the freedom that was fought for on the Gallipoli Peninsula
    in 1915".

    The Consul, Ms Gulseren Celik, said in a letter to state parliament
    that accounts of the Ottoman genocides by Australian soldiers based
    in Anatolia at the time were fabricated.

    In a speech to the NSW Parliament last week Reverend Nile reaffirmed
    the validity of the accounts, quoting from verified historical sources,
    including documents from official Anzac records.

    Reverend Nile said the crux of the debate was "the individual and
    collective right to memory", and said that Turkey's allegations that
    his actions were an incitement to hate were baseless.

    "Is it recalling hatreds, real or imagined, to commemorate the Shoah,
    the Jewish genocide, or Timorese or Papuan suffering under the Japanese
    in World War II?" said Mr Nile.

    "Historical debate often involves offence being taken by individuals,
    especially when entrenched positions are being undermined."

    Mr Nile told Neos Kosmos he was shocked by the Turkish Consul's
    description of Anzac records as fabrications, and that the NSW
    Government was looking at a number of options in order to respond to
    Turkey's threat to ban parliamentarians from Gallipoli.

    "We should not forget these genocides happened, to ignore them as
    historical fact is kicking the relatives and survivors of subsequent
    generations," he said.

    Having recently returned from a tour of Armenia with a cross-party
    delegation, Reverend Nile said Australia's Foreign Minister Bob Carr
    should intervene in the situation.

    "It's disappointing that the Federal Government seems to be acting
    in a cowardly way, and the threats from Turkey are having an effect
    on our Federal Government. It's ridiculous," said Mr Nile.

    "The government should do what's right and what's truthful, and not
    be blackmailed."

    Twenty-one countries around the world have passed formal resolutions
    recognising the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocides by the Ottoman
    empire. Along with Australia, Britain and the United States have not,
    although 43 US states have.

    Consul Gulseren Celik told reporters she is confident the Australian
    Government has no intention of following what she describes as the
    "outrageous" NSW motions.

    http://neoskosmos.com/news/en/fury-erupts-over-anzac-fabrication-slur

Working...
X