The Hellenic presence was felt during the commemorative events for the 111th anniversary of the Genocide of the Assyrian people last week.
A formal event was held at NSW Parliament House on Wednesday, August 6, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the Assyrian Genocide Monument in Smithfield in south-west Sydney on Sunday, August 10.
The Hellenic delegations at the twin events included Maria Anthony (President), Kosta Papoulidis and Ioanna Diamadis of the Pontoxeniteas Association.
“It is important Pontians especially are at commemorations of other communities,” said Mr Papoulidis, Pontoxeniteas’ Youth Committee Chair and dance instructor with the Club’s Intermediate and Junior groups, following Sunday’s wreath-laying, which was interrupted by rain.
“This show of solidarity is an important way of promoting awareness of our own history and culture.”
A guest speaker at both events was Genocide scholar Dr Panayiotis Diamadis, “a long-time advocate of parliamentary recognition of the Hellenic, Armenian and Assyrian Genocides,” according to the Assyrian National Council – Australia.
At both events, Dr Diamadis stressed the importance of education as a tool in making genocide history and not current affairs.
“We see genocide in the Middle East today – the Druze, the Assyrians, the Orthodox Rum, the Yazidi. All are still being targeted for being different,” Dr Diamadis said.
“We are working towards a world where Druze, Assyrians and other Christians, Yazidi, Jews and Muslims can live their lives as they wish, without fear of genocidal persecution. Education in all its forms is a pathway to this world. In Parliaments. In schools. In churches. In parks with memorials. Education everywhere and in all forms.”
The Assyrians are the indigenous people of Mesopotamia (modern south-east Turkey, north-east Syria and northern Iraq) with a recorded history as old as the Hellenes and the Armenians. Under the Ottoman Empire, the Assyrians were officially seen as ‘Ermeni’ (Armenians) and therefore targeted for destruction.
The persecution of the Assyrian people continues to the day, especially in Syria and Iraq, leading tens of thousands to refuge in Greece, Europe and as far away as south-west Sydney.
