Meeting of Archbishop Makarios with delegation of the Armenian National Committee of Australia
His Eminence Archbishop Makarios met with a delegation of the Armenian National Committee of Australia and of [Australian Hellenic] community members on Thursday 20 May, at the central offices of the Holy Archdiocese in Sydney.
It is the first visit of leading lay members of the Armenian community of Australia to the Holy Archdiocese, which took place as part of the broader cooperation of the Hellenic, Armenian and Assyrian communities of Australia.
During a frank discussion conducted in a very cordial atmosphere, the focus was the activity of the Joint Justice Initiative, which aims at uniting the efforts of the three communities in support of recognition of of the Genocides of the indigenous Hellenes, Armenians and Assyrians of Pontos, Anatolia and Thrace.
It is noted that the Joint Justice Initiative was formed in February 2020 and with the continual briefing of the Members of all parties of the Australian [Federal] Parliament, invites them to sign the ‘Memorandum of Support’ of the recognition of the Genocides. To date, 42 Senators [and Members of Parliament] have signed the Memorandum.
Also discussed with the official Representative of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Mr. Kaylar Michaelian, was the situation of churches and other religious monuments of the Armenian people in the regions under the control of Azerbaijan, especially the systematic desecration and destruction of Christian churches and cemeteries. The Archbishop stated his condemnation of the destruction of religious monuments.
Conducting the discussion with His Eminence on behalf of the Armenian National Committee of Australia were Messers Haig Kayserian (Executive Director) and Michael Kolokossian (Political Affairs Director). In addition, present at the meeting were the member of the Hellenic Genocide Commemorative Committee Mrs Maria Anthony and genocide scholar and historian Dr Panayiotis Diamadis.
