Australian MP Andrew Braddock calls for recognition of 1915 Sayfo Genocide: ‘In silence, genocide finds a friend’

CANBERRA — Andrew Braddock, Greens Member for Yerrabi and Deputy Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Parliament, has called on both the ACT Parliament and the Australian Government to officially recognize the 1915 Sayfo Genocide against the Syriacs (Arameans–Assyrians–Chaldeans), Armenians, and Greeks, the Armenian Council of Australia reported.

On 26 June 2025, Braddock addressed the ACT Parliament, stating that 110 years ago the Ottoman Empire carried out a deliberate plan to ethnically cleanse the Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks, paving the way for an ethno-nationalist Turkish state. “Between 1915 and 1923, approximately 2.5 million people were killed in the course of this genocide,” he said.

“In silence, genocide finds a friend,” said Braddock, urging the government to act:

“I call on the government to do the right thing by Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek communities here in Canberra and across the world. I am calling on the ACT Government to recognize the genocide committed against these peoples and the enduring legacies that continue to this day.”

According to the Armenian Council of Australia, Braddock’s remarks made him the first elected official to explicitly use the words “Armenian Genocide” on the floor of the ACT Legislative Assembly.

Recognition of the Sayfo Genocide has previously been adopted at the state level. The parliaments of New South Wales (1997) and South Australia (2006) passed motions recognizing the Sayfo Genocide. In 2009, South Australia extended its recognition to include Armenians, Pontian Greeks, Syrian Orthodox, Assyrians, and other Christian minorities, while also calling on the Commonwealth Parliament to officially condemn the genocide.

The New South Wales Parliament initially recognized only the Armenian victims in 1997 but corrected this in 2013 to affirm that “Assyrians and Greeks were subjected to qualitatively similar genocides by the then Ottoman Government between 1915 and 1922.”

Braddock’s call has reignited debate on whether Australia’s federal government will follow suit and formally recognize the genocide, joining the growing number of parliaments worldwide that have acknowledged these historic atrocities.