Every year Armenian Australians take to Sydney streets to call on the federal government to recognise the 1915 mass slaughter of their ancestors in Turkey as genocide, but this year the protest is personal.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Up to 1000 demonstrators on Sunday marched through Sydney's CBD directing their protest to Prime Minister Scott Morrison who, despite previously referring to the mass killings as genocide, now stops short of using the term.
"That's unacceptable, it's un-Australian and we're here to show that," Armenian National Committee of Australia executive director Haig Kayserian told AAP at the march.
Turkey denies up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed at the hands of the Ottoman Empire from 1915.
Many protesters on Sunday afternoon held signs that read "Turkey is guilty of Armenian genocide" and "Recognise the Armenian genocide" as they marched from Hyde Park to Circular Quay.
Mr Morrison was quizzed about his change in language at a press conference earlier in the week and said he used the word genocide previously as a "private citizen" but as prime minister he "represents the views of the country".
He also linked his decision to avoid using the term to the "strong relationship" with the Turkish government which allows Australians to attend Anzac Day commemorations in Gallipoli.
Mr Kayserian claimed the Turkish government was using Anzac Day as a "bargaining chip".
"(The Turkish government) is negotiating down Australia's position on this important human rights issue and using our Anzac graves as a bargaining chip," he said.
Marcher Vahe Artinian said his grandparents lost everything in the mass slaughter and had to start a new life in Syria before they migrated to Australia.
"We lost our land and valuables but we haven't lost our spirit, our identity, language and religion," he told AAP at the march.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, who is the daughter of Armenian immigrants, earlier this week renewed calls for the federal government to formally recognise the genocide.
Speaking at the the national Armenian genocide commemoration in Sydney, the premier said she was grateful for the states and the countries which have recognised the Armenian genocide.
"I look forward to the day when our very own Australian government will do the same. I'm confident this will happen," she said.
"Denial allows genocidal states to commit these heinous crimes in the belief they will escape the consequences."
Australian Associated Press
