Today, Turkey’s Christians (Greeks, Armenians, and Assyrians) comprise only around 0.1% of the population despite being indigenous peoples of the land. A significant reason for this population collapse is the Christian genocide committed by the Ottoman government and the Turkish nationalist movement from 1913 to 1923.
Over a hundred years later, Turkish government officials are not only aggressively denying this genocide and threatening to prosecute Turkish citizens who publicly address it—they are also trying to prevent other governments from officially recognizing the genocide.
The most recent example of such obstruction occurred in the Australian State of Victoria. A motion to recognize the genocide of Greeks, Armenians, and Assyrians was expected to be introduced in the Victorian Parliament on October 29th by Greens leader Samantha Ratnam but was dropped.
The news website Neos Kosmos reported that the Victorian government rejected the genocide motion, citing social division amidst the “conflict in the Middle East” [i.e., the war between Israel and Hamas/Hezbollah], fearing backlash from Muslim communities.
On October 24, the Victorian premier’s office, run by the Victorian Labor Party, confirmed in a statement to the media that they would not support the motion when it is presented.
This author learnt from contacts in Victoria that Turkish diplomats at the Turkish Embassy in Canberra, its Grey Wolf associates in Melbourne, and other Turkish lobbyists are together preventing the Victorian government from recognizing the genocide.
The Grey Wolves is the informal name of a Turkish nationalist movement called Idealist Hearths. The movement’s main ideologue was Nihal Atsız (1905–1975), a Nazi sympathizer. The group serves as the militant wing of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), a current ally of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The Grey Wolves have a long history of terrorism going back to the 1970s. They have been blamed for bomb attacks in Paris and Bangkok and are responsible for the 1981 attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II. Members of the organization have killed many of Turkey’s minority citizens, such as Alevis and Kurds.
In November 2020, French Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin announced the group’s banning. The announcement came after a 1915 Armenian genocide memorial outside the city of Lyon was defaced with yellow graffiti and pro-Turkish slogans.
Peter Stefanidis, Chairman of the Australian Hellenic Council, told europeanconservative.com:
The motion that was withdrawn at the last minute under interventional pressure from the Premier of Victoria was an initiative we have been working on for years.
The Turkish lobby here in Victoria has conflated the recognition of the Genocide as an attack on all Muslims and this has certain politicians. But our initiative has generated momentum for the cause, and we are being encouraged by the wider Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek communities to continue the struggle for justice.
Michael Kolokossian, the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANCA), told this publication:
Natalie Suleyman, an MP who is ethnically Turkish, acts as a mouthpiece for the Turkish embassy and their denialism policies. Together, their efforts blocked the proposed Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek Genocide Motion from being tabled this year.
However, a majority of Victorian MPs have signaled their willingness to support such a motion. The Turkish Embassy will run out of tactics to stop this motion from being supported. It is not a matter of it, it is a matter of when, and the peak public affairs bodies of the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek communities will not stop their advocacy until Victoria joins other states in Australia in formally recognizing the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek Genocides.
Recognition is important to provide closure to the thousands of descendants of genocide survivors in Victoria, who have been silenced from accurately speaking about their history and family’s pain.
The genocide began in the region of Eastern Thrace of Turkey by targeting Greeks and Armenians. It then continued in Anatolia, the Armenian Highlands, Pontos, Urmia, and the southern Caucasus, among other regions across Ottoman Turkey. Some 3 million Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian Christians were killed during the genocide. The goal of Turkish authorities was to use jihad to create a “Turkey for the Turks”.
In the late nineteenth century, Christians comprised 20% of the population, but by 1924, they had been reduced to just 2%.
Serious genocide scholars and historians agree on the reality of this genocide. The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) issued a 2007 statement declaring that the Ottoman campaign against Christian minorities of the Empire constituted a genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks.
Dr Panayiotis Diamantis, professor of history and a director of the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (AIHGS), told europeanconservative.com:
The genocides of the Hellenes, Armenians, and Assyrians, of the indigenous peoples of Thrace, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia, is a part of the historical record of many countries around the world. In our context, Australian soldiers, sailors, and airmen witnessed the aftermath of the genocides, documenting their experiences and sharing them with governments and media back home. Armed with this knowledge, for over a decade, Australians sent food, clothing, money, and supplies to the survivors of the Genocides, part of the world’s first international humanitarian relief effort. By recognizing the genocides, parliaments around the world acknowledge the place of these genocides within their own national stories. Only through such education may society make the crime of genocide a matter of history and no longer current affairs.
Further, Australia has witnessed Turkish attacks against the remembrance of genocide victims. In 2015, a monument to the victims of the Assyrian genocide in Sydney was defaced with Nazi imagery and abuse towards Jews, Armenians, and Assyrians. Australian media reported that it was the third time the memorial has been vandalized since it was erected in 2010.
Hermiz Shahen, the President of the Assyrian National Council-Australia, told europeanconservative.com:
The primary influence blocking this motion appears to come from within the Turkish community and lobby groups in Victoria. Turkey’s involvement is well-documented, as they have been particularly active in lobbying against genocide recognition globally.
In this case, it seems that the Premier of Victoria and members of the Labor Party have concerns that passing such a motion could strain ties with Turkey. While lobby groups don’t directly control legislation, their persistent influence and the potential diplomatic fallout seem to have swayed the government to refrain from taking a formal stance on genocide recognition. Their excuse is that the recognition will divide the Victorian community.
Recognition of the Assyrian, Armenian, and Greek Genocide, however, is essential to acknowledge the historical injustices suffered by these communities, particularly the Assyrians, who not only lost countless lives but also their ancestral homeland and identity as a sovereign nation. Government recognition serves as a foundation for justice, helping to address historical trauma and affirming the dignity of those affected by these atrocities. It also sets a powerful precedent against denial and impunity, emphasizing a global commitment to prevent future genocides by fostering understanding, healing, and accountability.
The denial of past crimes facilitates similar crimes to be subsequently committed. As Turkey’s government has avoided responsibility for massacring approximately three million Christians during a period of ten years from 1913 to 1923, it continues its aggression against Armenia, Cyprus, Kurds, Yazidis, and others.
