Australian MP: revised version of history taught in Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - Member for Smithfield in the NSW Legislative Assembly, Andrew Rohan, declared in a parliamentary statement that as a result of the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish government, the modern state of Armenia remains landlocked, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia).

Rohan, who was elected to parliament in the March 2011 election, rose in the House to describe the impact the Armenian Genocide continues to have on the Republic of Armenia.

He said: "As a result of the Armenian Genocide, the modern state of Armenia remains landlocked and does not constitute all of the lands once historically occupied by Armenians."

He continued: "Turkey, the successor state and beneficiary of the Ottoman perpetrators of the Armenian, Hellenic and Assyrian Genocides, currently maintains an economic blockade of Armenia which endangers the socio-economic viability, security and sustainability of a people subjected to genocide less than a century ago."

Rohan also talked about the efforts of the Republic of Turkey to impede a just resolution of the Armenian Genocide.

He added: "The Turkish government continues to destroy Armenian cultural monuments and churches; Turkish educators teach students a revised version of history, claiming that no genocide took place; and under article 301 of the Turkish penal code, courts prosecute and sentence anyone who openly accepts the occurrence of the Armenian Genocide."

Turning to the issue of Nagorno Karabakh, the Australian parliamentarian condemned the Azerbaijani aggression.

Rohan said: "Azeri military commanders continue to train snipers to shoot and kill innocent Armenians near the Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan border; the Azerbaijani government plans to boost military spending to $3.3 billion this year, up from $2.15 billion a year ago and just $160 million in 2003; the Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev consistently employs war rhetoric, threatening to pursue a military solution to the issue of Nagorno Karabakh; and the Republic of Azerbaijan, like Turkey, maintains an economic blockade of the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian Republic of Nagorno Karabakh."

"I raise these issues today because Australia and the international community must support a just resolution of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides; and I raise these issues today because Australia and the international community must acknowledge the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh’s right to self determination."

Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) Executive Director Varant Meguerditchian applauded the NSW MP’s courage in bringing these issues to light.

"While Turkey and its ethnic brethren in Azerbaijan maintain anti-Armenian policies, the issue of the Armenian Genocide remains unresolved," he said. "Mr Rohan’s statement, on public record, makes a significant contribution to the just resolution of the Armenian Genocide."