CANBERRA: The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) has sent a letter to The Federal Republic of Germany’s Ambassador to Australia, His Excellency Dr. Christoph Mueller, thanking his country for the historic recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

The letter acknowledged the members of Germany’s Bundestag in relation to the recent passage of the resolution recognising and condemning the Armenian Genocide as well as similar crimes against humanity committed against other Christian minorities by Ottoman Turkey during World War I.

The partisan support for this resolution was highlighted in the correspondence, where a special mention was also made for those members of the Bundestag who are of Turkish ancestry, and advocated for this resolution to be adopted, notably the co-leader of the Greens party, Mr. Cem Özdemir. Their continued pursuit for the passage of this resolution despite numerous threats and severe opposition by the Government of Turkey was highly commended.

With this resolution, Germany becomes the 12^th member of the European Union (EU) and 27th nation overall to formally recognise the Armenian Genocide. ANC Australia stated in the letter that Germany “has chosen the right path for justice and moral truth despite Turkey trying to impose its ‘foreign gag-order’ to influence German foreign policy”.

ANC Australia thanked Germany for demonstrating “international moral leadership in the face of implicit and explicit threats by the Turkish Government, which can only be described as diplomatic thuggery”.

With the passing of this resolution, ANC Australia expressed great hope that in the near future, Turkey can come to terms with its past and “learn from the honourable example set by Germany… and acknowledge, atone and deliver just restitution for the Armenian Genocide”.

ANC Australia Executive Administrator, Arin Markarian said: “For Germany to recognise the Armenian Genocide is monumental in the global drive for proper recognition and condemnation of such a heinous crime and humanitarian disaster."

He added: "The fact that Germany, a World War I ally of the Ottoman Empire at the time, and one of Turkey’s most reliable international partners today, shows that even the closest of friends have a moral obligation to acknowledge the truth, and point out the wrong doings of their friends, despite any threats of backlash. This shows great character and human value for life and we applaud Germany for recognising the Armenian Genocide."

It is with this example that ANC Australia hopes that Australia, who also has close historic ties with Turkey, can look beyond the insulting ‘foreign gag-order’ policy of Turkey, and pursue its own righteous path to recognising the Armenian Genocide and the positive history that Australia has in relation to providing humanitarian assistance for those unfortunate victims at the time.