Sydney - Plans by a
Sydney council to build a monument to Assyrians slain during and after World War I has prompted the Turkish embassy in
Australia to threaten legal action, news reports said Tuesday. Ambassador Oguz Ozge told The Australian newspaper that the proposed statue would strain bilateral ties and provoke division between Turkish immigrants and Assyrians.
Assyrians are Christians whose homeland takes up parts of Iraq, Syria,
Iran and Turkey. They claim they were persecuted by Turks during and after World War I.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith had opposed the plans but has no power to overturn them.
"It hurts the Turkish Australians living in this country and it is an attempt at destroying the harmony of the two communities living in Australia side by side," Ambassador Ozge said. "We are looking into whether we can do anything, legally or otherwise."
Last week, when the plans were discussed at Fairfield Council chambers, riot police were on duty to prevent clashes between Turkish and Assyrian groups.
Hermiz Shahen, secretary of the Assyrian Universal Alliance, admitted his group had not consulted the Turkish community over its plans, but insisted the move was not provocative.
"There is no mention of the Turks on the plaque," he told the paper. "That is part of our respect for the community here," Shahen said, noting the inscription was a dedication to the "souls of Assyrian martyrs."
There are around 150,000 people of Turkish descent living in Australia. About 20,000 Assyrians live in Australia, most of them in Fairfield, a western Sydney suburb.
