AUSTRALIA: MP John Alexander puts his name to Joint Justice Initiative for recognition of Sayfo Genocide of 1915

Canberra – Australian Member of Parliament John Alexander attached his name to the initiative started by Armenians, Syriac-Assyrians and Greeks living in Australia to ask the Australian government for official recognition of the Sayfo Genocide of 1915 on Armenians, Greeks and Syriacs (Assyrians-Arameans-Chaldeans).

MP John Alexander is a member of the Liberal Party and Chair of the Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport and Cities. In its news report the Public Armenian Radio says John Alexander has been a long-standing advocate for Australia’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide, speaking on the record on the issue on countless occasions and even visiting the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan last year as part of the first Federal-led Australian Delegation to Armenia and Artsakh.

As SyriacPress reported in February, the Joint Justice Initiative was launched in Canberra last month with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by three advocacy organizations in Australia: Armenian National Committee of Australia, Assyrian Universal Alliance and Australian Hellenic Council. The MoU calls for official recognition by the Australian government of the Sayfo of 1915 perpetrated by the Ottoman-Turks and local Kurdish tribes in the latter days of Ottoman Empire during the First World War in what is now southeast Turkey.

Prime Minister and politicians congratulate Assyrians in Australia with Akitu New Year

Also in Australia this week, the Assyrian Universal Alliance Australia chapter and the Assyrian Australian National Foundation (AANF) received letters of congratulations for the Akitu New Year from Australian Prime Minister and many politicians from different parties and states (source SBS Assyrian Radio website and AANF Facebook).