The Armenian National Committee of Australia has addressed a letter to the government of South Wales in regard to the placement of a statue of the first President of the Republic of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Last month, a plaque dedicated to Ataturk was placed at Hyde Park in Sydney in observance of the 100^th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli, and a similar plaque has already been placed in the Australian city of Canberra.

As Armenia.com.au reports, in their letter, the Armenians presented the horrible events that took place during the First World War and the crimes that Ataturk had perpetrated against the Armenians, the Greeks and the Assyrians. “The year 2015 is a special year not only because it marks the 100^th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli, but also because it marks the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, and it’s very important for the facts and events are not distorted when this important period in history is presented. When Australian soldiers were fighting courageously in the army of the allies, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who later became the idol of German nationalists and Adolf Hitler, wiped the Ottoman Empire of ethnic minorities. If the monument is going to be placed in order to honor his legacy, his legacy is rape, murder, tyranny, as well as genocide and ethnic cleansing. Besides the fact that the placement of that monument is an offense to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, it is also a shame for the forces of Australia that were finally destroyed during the First World War.”

Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of Australia Vatche Ghahramian expressed his disappointment with the fact that the authorities of New Wales didn’t consult with the Australian-Armenian community before taking such an important decision. “As citizens of Australia, we understand how important the Battle of Gallipoli is for Australia, but the self-proclaimed dictator Atatur shouldn’t be viewed as a symbol of heroism of Gallipoli in Australia,” Ghahramanian said.