US President formally recognises Armenian Genocide as Australian PM falls short on remembrance

US President Joe Biden has stated that he will formally use the term “Armenian Genocide” to remember the 3000,000 Armenian lives that were lost during WWI.

Biden informed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday that he would use the term genocide, reportedly leading to “tense” phone discussions.

Earlier this week, US officials had been sending signals to allies outside the administration that the President would recognise the genocide. Addressing the potential move in an interview with a Turkish broadcaster this week, Turkey’s foreign minister said, “If the United States wants to worsen ties, the decision is theirs.”

Ronald Reagan was the last American President to refer to the massacre as a “genocide”, marking forty years since the last formal recognition by the US President.

In 2019, the House and Senate passed a resolution recognizing the mass killings of Armenians from 1915 to 1923 as genocide.

Australian PM ‘falls short’ of recognition

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has failed to formally recognise the Armenian massacre as a “genocide”, sparking outrage among Australia’s Armenian community.

The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) reports that descendants of the communities will prepare to March for Justice under the banner of #SpeakUpScoMo in Sydney and Melbourne on Saturday 24th April 2021.

Prime Minister Morrison released a statement on the occasion marking the 106th anniversary of the Armenian massacre, referring to “the tragedy of dispossession, deportation and death” of the Armenians.

Prime Minister Morrison’s failure to correctly characterise 1915 as genocides ensures Australia remains behind over 30 nations.

ANC-AU Executive Director, Haig Kayserian said that what effectively amounts to the continued appeasement of genocide denial as outlined by Prime Minister Morrison’s statement will be the focus of the discontent set to be communicated by the Armenian-Australian, Assyrian-Australian and Greek-Australian communities, who have joined forces under the Joint Justice Initiative brand to lead their communities in protest marches in Sydney and Melbourne on Saturday 24th April 2021 and to continue to lobby for recognition of the genocides.

“While we appreciate Prime Minister’s recognition of Australia’s first major international humanitarian relief effort to aid the victims of 1915, his failure to call a genocide by name is unacceptable to our communities,” said Kayserian.

“The Prime Minister acknowledges there was dispossession, deportation and death suffered by the Armenians, which led to this relief effort, but his failure to call out the Armenian Genocide means these crimes were not committed based on the grounds of race.”

On Friday 23rd April 2021, an unprecedented number of Australian politicians offered messages supporting Federal recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides for the 106th Anniversary Commemoration, which was live streamed online.

Greek PM commemorates remembrance of Armenian Genocide

Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis issued an address on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

“The Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is important for the Greek and Armenian peoples, who are linked with centuries-old ties, as well as friendship, that developed under difficult circumstances,” the PM said in a statement.

“Today, like every year on April 24, we commemorate the innocent victims, raising our voice for respect towards human life and dignity, since only peaceful co-existence can result in peoples’ progress’’.

In his message, he spoke about the mythological, historical, and cultural similarities between Greece and the Caucasus.

“Just for that reason our country could not stay indifferent towards the much-suffered people of Armenia during its last challenge.

“Our country immediately responded to the call for humanitarian aid. And today Greece supports security consolidation in the region based on international law, for the sake of a solution that will respect that rights of the local population, keeping away from a new unfair bloodshed’’.