Councilor Theo Zografos of the City of Monash—a local government area in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia—in Friday’s meeting included a motion for the recognition of the Pontian, Armenian, and Assyrian genocide to be added to an upcoming council meeting agenda, asking for fellow councilors to support him.
“So many of our ancestors suffered, and there are so many descendants of those migrants in Monash,” Zografos told Neos Kosmos. “People of those background deserve that formal recognition within our local community, and then hopefully use that to advocate in other local councils. The more governments push for it, the more chances there are for Turkey to admit and recognize the genocide.”
Although the states of New South Wales and South Australia have already recognized the genocide, Victoria has not despite the large numbers of Pontian, Assyrian, and Armenian populations living in the state. If the motion passes, Monash will be the first local government in Victoria to recognize the genocide.
“My paternal grandparents were from Aivali, Asia Minor, and moved to Greece in the early 1920s,” noted Theo Zografos.