Archbishop Makarios of Australia held a meeting with a delegation of the Armenian National Committee of Australia and of the Greek Diaspora at the headquarters of the Archdiocese in Sydney on Thursday, May 20.
This was the first official visit of prominent lay executives of the Armenian Community of Australia to the Holy Archdiocese, which took place in the context of the wider cooperation of Greeks, Armenians and Assyrians of Australia.
In a very cordial atmosphere, the attendants focused on the action of the Joint Justice Initiative, which aims to unite the efforts of the three diasporas in Australia in order to recognize the genocides of the autochthonous Greeks, Assyrians and Armenians living in Pontus, Anatolia and Thrace.
It is noted that the Joint Justice Initiative was founded in February 2020 and, following the continuous information to MPs from all parties in the Australian Parliament, called for the signing of the declaration of support for the recognition of the genocides. 42 senators have signed the declaration so far.
They also discussed with the official representative of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Kaylar Michaelian, the situation of churches and other religious monuments of the Armenian people in the areas under the control of Azerbaijan, especially the systematic desecration and destruction of Christian churches and cemeteries. The Archbishop condemned the destruction of religious monuments.
On behalf of the Armenian National Committee of Australia, Haig Kayserian (Executive Director) and Michael Kolokossian (Political Affairs Officer) spoke with the Archbishop. The meeting was also attended by the executive of the Committee on the Genocide Remembrance Day, Maria Anthony, and the scholar in Genocide Studies and historian Dr. Panagiotis Diamantis.