Asia Minor Genocide Remembrance Day

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (16:36): I move:

That this council—

1. Recognises 19 May as a Day of Remembrance for the genocide by the Ottoman state between 1915-1923 of Armenians, Hellenes, Syrian and other minorities in Asia Minor;

2. Congratulates the International Association of Genocide Scholars and the many other nations that have officially recognised that the Armenians, Hellenes, Syrian and other minorities were subjected to genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish military in Asia Minor;

3. Joins the members of the Armenian-Australian, Pontian Greek-Australian and Syrian-Australian communities in honouring the memory of the innocent men, women and children who fell victim to the first modern genocide;

4. Condemns the genocide of the Armenians, Pontian Greeks, Syrian Orthodox and other Christian minorities, and all other acts of genocide as the ultimate act of racial, religious and cultural intolerance; and

5. Calls on the Turkish Republic to accept responsibility for the genocide of 3.5 million in Asia Minor according to the International Association of Genocide Scholars, more than 353,000 Hellenes of Asia Minor and Pontus, 1.5 million Armenians and 500,000 Syrians, the displacement and suffering of millions more and calls on the Turkish Republic to finally apologise for this act of genocide it perpetrated beginning in 1915.

I rise to speak about and remember the Armenians, Syrians and Pontian Greeks in Asia Minor who were needlessly killed by the Ottoman Empire. Following World War I, the then Ottoman Empire committed acts of violence that can only be categorised as genocide on the Asia Minor population. Although the Turkish government ostensibly denies having committed genocide, there can be no doubt that between 1915 and 1923, on the grounds of ethnic cleansing, millions of innocent people were killed.

Pre 1915, Hellenes, Pontians, Armenians and Syrians made up 20 per cent of the Asia Minor region's population. Post 1923, they made up just 2 per cent of the population. The targeted campaign of genocide on these groups was nothing short of inhumane and devastating. Turkish officials accept that atrocities occurred during this time, but argue that there was no systematic attempt to destroy the non-Turkish people of the Asia Minor.

Several senior Ottoman officials were put to trial in Turkey in the period between 1919 and 1920 in connection with the atrocities. A local governor, Kemal, was found guilty and hanged for the mass killings of Armenians in the central Anatolian district of Yozgat. The young Turks' top triumvirate fled abroad. They were sentenced to death in absentia. Academics and historians have questioned the judicial processes of these trials, the quality of evidence presented and the degree to which Turkish authorities may have wished to appease the victorious allies.

The United Nations Genocide Convention defines genocide as a series of acts committed 'with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group'. Such acts include killing, causing bodily harm, inflicting conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction, imposing measures intended to prevent births and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

The Turkish government's actions at the time meet this test. Although not formally recognised as a genocide, several countries and world leaders recognise this event as one of the most significant tragedies of modern history. The latest to do so was the President of the United States, Joe Biden. America joins Argentina, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Uruguay and nine other countries which formally recognise the genocide.

Only when we recognise what has happened in the past can we build upon our understanding and prevent failures in the future. For humanity's sake, I urge everyone in this chamber to join these nations and support the day of remembrance for those killed for being different. For their loss and in their memory, I move this motion. I would also like to acknowledge the representatives of the Pontian SA Brotherhood in the chamber, representatives of the Cyprus community and the Armenian community, and Neos Kosmos as well. Thank you for attending today.

The Hon. C. BONAROS (16:40): I rise to speak in support of the Hon. Irene Pnevmatikos's motion recognising 19 May as a day of remembrance for the genocide by the Ottoman state between 1915 and 1923 of Armenians, Hellenes, Syrians and other minorities in Asia Minor. It is also a very important date in the Greek calendar in terms of the Pontian Remembrance Day.

The systematic killing of Christian Ottoman Greek populations during and in the aftermath of World War I has often been referred to as the first modern genocide. Historians have estimated some 353,000 Pontians died between 1914 and 1923. Last Wednesday, 19 May, the Hellenic parliament lit up in remembrance, as it has done since it voted formally in 1994 to recognise the genocide. Greece's President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, said in a statement:

We honour the memory of the hundreds of thousands of Pontian Greek victims who were exterminated in an inhuman and heinous way a century ago.

At the same time, we acknowledge the heroic lives of the Greeks of Pontus who were saved and contributed the most to the recovery and progress of the motherland, and to the economic development and the richness of our cultural identity.

Today is a vivid and enduring reminder to the entire international community of the great importance of morality, responsibility and forgiveness for the peaceful coexistence of peoples.

Formal recognition of the Greek genocide is gaining momentum, inspired by the recent US recognition of the Armenian genocide. The importance of that formal recognition of genocide was highlighted by resolution of the International Association of Genocide Scholars in 2007, which in part said that the denial of genocide is widely recognised as the final stage of genocide, enshrining impunity for the perpetrators of genocide and demonstrably paving the way for future genocides.

I, along with other members of our communities, both here in South Australia and around the world, look forward to formal recognition by many more nations, so that the sorts of atrocities inflicted not only on Greek people but on our Hellenes, our Armenians, our Syrians and our Cypriots are all recognised and never happen again and, where they continue to happen, in the hope that they cease.

I think it is really important to highlight with this motion my view and my stance, and that is that this is not intended, as some commentators have suggested and as commentary that I have read in social media suggests, to divide us. We are very fortunate to be living harmoniously in Australia today. We are very fortunate to be joined today by a diverse range of members of our communities.

These discussions are not designed to cause division between Greeks and Turks or Cypriots and Turks or Syrians and Armenians and Turks. What they are intended to do, especially in the diaspora, is to recognise the events of the past for what they are so as to help us move forward, and we all know that unless we recognise the events of the past that moving forward becomes a very difficult feat indeed. With those words, I would like to thank the Hon. Irene Pnevmatikos again for moving this motion and commend it to the chamber.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon I.K. Hunter.