I turned on the youtube video of the Sydney #savekessab protest, unaware that the volume of my laptop was on full blast. The booming voices of the angry Armenian protesters blasted through my speakers and everyone in the bustling Willoughby cafe turned to me.

“What was that?” An elderly man sitting by himself leaned towards me, genuinely interested. At first I merely smiled, apologised, turned down the volume and continued to watch.  But from the peripheral of my vision I could see that he was looking at my screen, trying to see what I was so intently observing. So I paused the video, shifted my chair towards him and started educating him about the Armenian Genocide, the recent bombings of Kessab in Syria and the #savekessab protests that had taken place around the world.

“So what you are saying is that on the streets of Sydney two minority ethnic groups were shouting and chanting about something that happened between foreign governments a hundred years ago, and even something in Syria, which has nothing to do with Australia? And the Australian police and government put up with this?”

I stared and nodded. I had never thought about it objectively. As far as I (and almost every other Armenian diaspora member) am concerned we are born into established Armenian institutions, creating our own cultural haven. Like many other Sydney born Armenians I attended Galstaun College, an Armenian school, went to Tarkmanchatz Armenian Saturday school, played basketball for Homenetmen, an Armenian sporting organisation and have been involved for numerous other Armenian causes. Our ancestors have migrated to foreign lands, establishing Armenian havens, which the forthcoming generations have been continuing and enriching.

At the Sydney #savekessab protest, Australian Youth Federation (AYF) Australia Chairperson, Aram Tufenkjian, bellowed towards the Turkish government what Armenians all over the world have been protesting since the genocide almost a century ago:

“Today the Armenian community and more importantly the Armenian youth have rallied behind the Armenian Youth Federation of Australia to show that the youth is united in defending our rights not only today but into the future. On the eve of the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian genocide we gather to condemn the actions of the Turkish Republic for their attacks on the heavily Armenian region of Kessab, Syria.

With him there were over 1000 Australian Armenians, fighting for a cause that has affected each one of them. After all, the main reason why we are not living in our motherland is because of the genocide and persecution that our forefathers escaped from, forcing them to seek refuge in foreign countries.

Mr Tufenkjian also recited a passage composed by Armenian-American writer William Saroyan, which read:

“Go ahead, destroy Armenia. See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.

This is why the old man at the coffee shop startled me. I have been living in William Saroyan’s “New Armenia” all my life. I feel a strong affinity towards my motherland, but belong to the Armenian cultural entity that we have created here in Sydney. The #savekessab protests affirmed the bond that we, Armenians of the world, share not only with our motherland, but with our brothers and sisters who live in the Syrian diaspora. Yes, they are a world away, but we are all Armenian, and on the streets of Sydney we continue to fight against the Turkish government, condemning their actions against the Armenian people of Kessab.

Millions of Armenians in countries across the world have formed a “New Armenia”, just like William Saroyan said we would, but it is when we come together to fight towards a common cause, we truly represent ourselves as a unified people race.