Hundreds of people have rallied in Sydney and Melbourne to call for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to formally recognise the massacre of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire more than a century ago as a genocide.
The rallies, which took place on Saturday afternoon, came hours before US President Joe Biden announced a landmark decision to officially recognise the killings as a genocide - a label Turkey strongly denies.
Saturday marks the 106th anniversary of the Ottoman Empire's mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Armenians during and following World War I.
Haig Kayserian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee in Australia, told SBS News Armenians in Australia were protesting Mr Morrison's failure to recognise the killings as genocide.
Hundreds attended the rally in The Domain in Sydney on Saturday. Source: Catalina Florez/SBS News
"We're making our voices of discontent heard loud and clear, that no euphemisms or replacements will be accepted by our communities," he said.
At the Sydney rally, which began in The Domain, protesters chanted "speak up ScoMo" as they marched through the city.
Aris Hosikin, who attended the Melbourne rally, told SBS News the lack of recognition was a "wound that hasn't been healed" for survivors of the massacre.
"We haven't received an apology or recognition for what happened to our ancestors during the First World War," he said. "It would add closure to a chapter in our lives and allow us to move on and heal."
Another attendee, Tamar Ipradjian, said she participates in the rally every year because it is important to raise awareness about what happened in 1915.
"Unfortunately there is not as much education out there about that," she said. "My ancestors were involved in it and justice needs to prevail."
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, the daughter of Armenian migrants, is among high-profile figures calling for the killings to be officially recognised as genocide.
"I am forever hopeful Australia will join the many nations around the world who have recognised the Armenian genocide of 1915," she tweeted on Saturday.
In a statement marking the anniversary, Prime Minister Scott Morrison stopped short of using the word genocide, instead referencing the "enormous loss suffered by the Armenian people in the last years of the Ottoman Empire".
The statement was significantly different to a comment Mr Morrison made as a backbencher in 2011, in which he said it was "important we recognise the Armenian genocide for what it was".
Mr Kayserian said he was hopeful the Australian government would follow in the footsteps of the Biden administration, pointing to Mr Morrison's past comments.
"We know what Scott Morrison believes," he said. "Australia has spoken on this issue and we are just waiting for the government to do the same."
About 30 countries around the world have recognised the killings as genocide, including Russia, France, Canada and Germany.
The parliaments of New South Wales and South Australia also recognise the killings as genocide, but the federal government of Australia does not.
Turkey has always vigorously rejected the use of the term genocide, a view shared by the Turkish community in Australia.
"There has never been a competent international court decision labelling the events as genocide," Baris Atayman, executive secretary for the Australian Turkish Advocacy Alliance, told SBS News.
"Joe Biden's decision to call the events of 1915 as genocide we believe is a political one; based on nothing but his own personal convictions."
Mr Biden spoke with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the first time in his capacity as US President on Friday ahead of the expected announcement.
A day earlier, Mr Erdogan told advisors to "defend the trust against those who back the so-called 'Armenian genocide' lie".
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been contacted for comment.
With AFP
