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Category: Australia

  • Why does Turkey allow ANZAC day celebrations?

    Why does Turkey allow ANZAC day celebrations?

    Why does Turkey allow Australians to celebrate ANZAC day on its territory?

    Here is what the commander of the Turkish forces at Galipoli had to say about the fallen ANZACS;

    “Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives … You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours … You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”

    Pretty sure that answers your question.

    Mark Peacock
    Studied at Murdoch University

    783510 120425 gallipoli
    Australians are being warned of the possibility of terror attacks in Turkey as Anzac Day approaches. File image. Source: AFP
  • An Interview on “The Water Diviner”

    An Interview on “The Water Diviner”

    imgresTATV’s Özge Övün-Sert spoke with Russell Crowe, director of The Water Diviner and Turkish film star Yılmaz Erdoğan, whose portrayal of a Turkish soldier won an award in Australia.

    The two talked about the Battle of Gallipoli and the story of Joshua Connor, an Australian farmer (portrayed by Crowe), who goes to Turkey four years after the battle to search for his three sons who were presumed to have died during the conflict.

    As Joshua travels through a country that was at war with his a few year earlier, “he never finds the footsteps of the enemy.”. As Crowe comments. “Instead, he finds more than he could ever have hoped for. One of the things that comes out of this film is that there are two sides to every conflict…I think after 100 years there has been enough time that we can open our hearts and our understanding of what the situation was from both sides.”

  • Australia does not recognize the events of 1915 as “Genocide”

    Australia does not recognize the events of 1915 as “Genocide”

    Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia released internal communication documents about the “Events of 1915” under the Freedom of Information request made last month.

    The letter requests DFAT to disclose “ANY” correspondence about “Armenian Genocide” and or “Armenian Massacres” from 1 January 2014 onward. . .

    DFAT%2BReleases%2Binternal%2Bcommunications%2Bon%2Bthe%2BEvent%2Bof%2B1915

     

     

     

  • Armenian Australian church leader ‘was a KGB spy’

    Armenian Australian church leader ‘was a KGB spy’

    Phillip Dorling

    A highly respected Australian church leader was a KGB spy, according to newly released Russian intelligence archives.

    Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia and New Zealand, was listed as a KGB agent, codenamed “Zorik” in the papers of former KGB archivist and defector Vasili Mitrokhin, which were released by the UK’s Churchill College Archive last month.

    Born in Syria in 1946, the late Archbishop Baliozian arrived in Australia in 1975 to serve as Vicar General of the diocese of the Armenian Church before being appointed as Primate of Australia and New Zealand in 1982.

    A highly respected religious leader and a well-known figure in Chatswood, Sydney, Archbishop Baliozian was strongly committed to ecumenism, working for cooperation and greater unity between Christian churches.

    He was the first president of the National Council of Churches in Australia from 1994 to 1997 and president of the NSW Ecumenical Council from 2005 to 2007. He represented the Armenian Church at the World Council of Churches.

    Archbishop Baliozian was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1995 “in recognition of service to the Armenian community” and the Centenary Medal in 2001, again for community service.

    However, Mitrokhin’s papers on KGB espionage operations in Australia allege Archbishop Baliozian was recruited by Soviet intelligence in 1973 while undertaking theological studies in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, then part of the Soviet Union.

    According to Mitrokhin’s notes of Soviet state security files, Aghan Baliozian went on to work as a KGB agent while studying and teaching in Jerusalem in 1974, and maintained “ongoing communications in three countries”. He continued contact with the KGB after he transferred to the Armenian Church in Australia, according to the papers.

    However, Mitrokhin’s papers also suggest that his performance in Australia was considered unsatisfactory. The third department of the KGB’s foreign intelligence directorate, responsible for operations in Australia, concluded Archbishop Baliozian had “insufficient operational training” and eventually discontinued his employment.

    The precise terms of Archbishop Baliozian’s separation from the KGB are not recorded in Mitrokhin’s notes and it is not known whether he had any further dealings with Soviet intelligence in the 1980s.

    Mitrokhin’s notes of KGB files record Soviet state security’s extensive efforts to recruit clergy as agents and informants, especially in churches with a significant presence in the former Soviet Union.

    British intelligence historian Christopher Andrew, who collaborated with Mitrokhin on two books, claims that, during the Cold War the KGB recruited a number of representatives on the World Council of Churches, mainly from the Russian Orthodox Church but from other denominations as well, in successful efforts to influence the Council’s policies.

    Archbishop Baliozian died in September 2012. More than 600 people attended his funeral at the Armenian Apostolic Church in Chatswood, including three archbishops from Jerusalem, India and Armenia.

    Many NSW political figures paid tribute to the archbishop, with Liberal MP Jonathan O’Dea applauding his commitment to inter-religious dialogue as well as his abilities as an orator.

    “Always approachable and gregarious, the archbishop was captivating as a speaker… He would simply speak from the heart, capturing the attention of young and old in his congregation and developing a strong and loyal following,” Mr O’Dea told the NSW Parliament.

    m.smh.com.au, August 12, 2014

  • Turkey to ban alcohol at Gallipoli

    Turkey is looking to crack down on boozy Aussies and Kiwis at Gallipoli by banning alcohol in the historic area.

    Turkish politicians have backed plans to ban alcohol for Aussies and Kiwis at the Gallipoli site. (AAP)

     

    Turkish politicians have backed plans to ban alcohol for Australians and New Zealanders who come every year to honour those killed in the World War I Gallipoli campaign.

    Thousands of Antipodeans, many of them young backpackers, gather every April at the historic Gallipoli peninsula to honour their ancestors killed in the 1915 battle of Gallipoli.

    A parliamentary committee on Wednesday voted in favour of a bill introduced by the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) that would change the status of the Gallipoli peninsula from a national park to a historical area, where consuming alcoholic drinks is strictly banned.

    The bill still needs to be passed by parliament, but the AKP holds a comfortable majority there, a parliamentary source told AFP.

    The dawn ceremony on April 25 marks the first ANZAC landings at the Gallipoli peninsula in the ill-fated Allied campaign to take the Dardanelles Strait from the Ottoman Empire.

    In the ensuing eight months of fighting, about 11,500 ANZAC troops were killed, fighting alongside British, Indian and French soldiers.

    Close to 4500 people made the journey this year for the commemorations, with many spending a boozy night on the beach as they waited for the moment the first shots were fired.

    The proposed bill imposes a fine of 5000 Turkish liras ($A2600) against offenders who drink alcohol outside licensed venues.

    The AKP, which has angered secular Turks by restricting alcohol sales, said the move was in keeping with global standards.

    “We just want to follow the international standards in the ceremony, which is attended by the leaders of 39 countries every year,” Culture Minister Omer Celik said, without elaborating.

    But Ali Saribas, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), accused the government of not respecting the culture of people “who come all the way from Australia”.

    “Drinking wine is part of their culture, it’s their heritage. But the government has no respect for it,” he told AFP.

    “I am sure they can find a way of allowing people to make their commemorations as they want, but I doubt they will.

    “These people have been coming here for years and have never bothered the locals. They will either stop coming or try to cover their wine or beer bottles, which will make Turkey look very ridiculous,” he said.

    via Turkey to ban alcohol at Gallipoli | SBS News.

  • NSW Parliament violates UN and Commonwealth laws

    NSW Parliament violates UN and Commonwealth laws

    NSW parliament
    New South Wales – Australian MPs at Nagorno Karabakh parliament

    In 2012, under the leadership of New South Wales (NSW) Premier, the Hon. Barry O’Farrell, the state parliament of NSW became the first legitimate parliament in the world to pass a motion (in violation of International and Commonwealth laws) granting the illegal occupiers of Nagorno Karabakh the right to self determination, and called upon the Australian government to follow suit.

    It also became the first legitimate parliament in the world to send an official delegation to Nagorno Karabakh, sanctioned by the NSW Premier the Hon. Barry O’Farrell.