Petition against MPs of NSW

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales.

The Petition of Citizens of NEW SOUTH WALES.

Brings to the attention of the House;

• On 8 May 2013, the NSW Legislative Assembly passed a motion recognising an allegation that not just Armenian’s, but now also Assyrian’s and Greek communities were subject to “qualitatively similar” genocides at the hands of the Ottoman Government between 1914-1922.

• We the members of this Community deplore and condemn the misuse of NSW Parliament in this way. Parliament is not the place to determine any controversial historical issue, especially of Ottoman History almost a century ago.

• The charge of genocide is a very serious one –the most serious crime that a nation can have laid against it and it is a crime clearly defined in International Law. Without a judgement issued by a competent International Court; it is not up to parliaments to pass judgement on it.

• We condemn these motions as no more than cynical exercises aimed at garnering votes amongst certain ethnic communities. Such a vote grab only serves to ignite ethnic hatreds and bringancient grudges into modern Australian Society.

• We condemn the false connection made in theresolutionwhich taintsthe ANZAC-Turkishrelationship.

The undersigned petitioners there fore ask the Legislative Assembly to understand that the NSW Parliament does not have the status of a court, nor is it in any way an academic institution. This motion is a serious over reach of the proper powers and responsibilities bestowed on our politicians by the people of NSW. We seek the above resolution to be over-turned and a public announcement be made.