ASA Executive's Statement on the Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide

Armenian Students’ Association’s Executive Statement on the Commemoration of the 102nd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

We stand in solidarity with the one million and a half souls that were deprived, tortured, and murdered. The tragedies we see occurring in current times in Syria at the hands of ISIS are testaments to the importance of recognising the Armenian Genocide. We stand with the Armenian Diaspora of Australia in condemning denialists' efforts, and vow to fight for recognition of these crimes.

Genocide Recognition

Genocide recognition remains an important stepping stone for our communities to heal. It is a pain that binds us all together and unites us against the injustices of the world. As representatives of Armenian Students in NSW, we promise to remain committed and consistent on purpose to educate and inform on the atrocities that were committed in 1915 by the Young Turks.

April 24 was a day where Armenia’s intellectuals, leaders and politicians were targeted. 102 years on, our communities around the world are a legacy that prove the failure of these genocide policies that were enacted on our people.

Cultural Genocide

The concept of ‘national and cultural genocide’ has not yet been included in the 1948 UN Convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of Genocide. Yet it has been a strategy in contributing to a norm where genocide denial, or genocide equivocation has become acceptable. We have witnessed the continual destruction of Armenian culture in Eastern Turkey through the desecration of churches and monasteries, along medieval documents.

We fight against this through uniting, learning, discussing and protecting the Armenian culture. 102 years on our strength as a diaspora is growing. With the consequence of apathy being far too great, the growing patriotic sentiment in our community has become a powerful tool in growing organisations that serve to protect the Armenian Culture.