Sydney, Australia - As Armenian communities around the world observed solemn commemorations on this 90th anniversary year of the Armenian Genocide, Armenian-Australians have united also to mark not only the memorial of its Armenian martyrs but also the ANZAC.

The Primate of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand, His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian presided over and attended a number of commemorative events over the course of the weekend.

On Saturday, 23 April, the Primate accompanied by parish priests and deacons held a prayer service at the Cenotaph (war memorial) at Martin Place, Sydney during a wreath-laying ceremony for the undying memories of the victims of the Armenian Genocide and the ANZAC soldiers who fought in WWI. A large contingent of faithful Armenian community members flocked the memorial to pay their personal respects.

On Sunday, 24 April, a Divine Liturgy and Requiem Service was offered by Reverend Father Norayr Patanian at the Altar of the Armenian Genocide Monument at Macquarie Park Cemetery in the northern suburbs. On the same morning, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Reverend Father Bartev Karakashian at St Benedict's Catholic Church for the Armenian congregation of western suburbs. The Primate delivered the day's sermon at the northern suburbs' service and soon after attended a dedication ceremony to install a commemorative plaque in Memorial Park, Meadowbank in the city of Ryde following the Council's unanimous passing of a motion officially recognising the Armenian Genocide on 12 April, 2005 - the first local government of Australia to do so. Archbishop Aghan Baliozian was invited by Ryde City Council to open the dedication ceremony with his prayer and blessing.

Mid-afternoon the Primate accompanied by parish priests and deacons attended a Requiem Service at the Armenian Genocide Memorial at Rookwood Cemetery where the faithful of the area gathered to partake in the solemn service offering prayers for the repose of the souls of the Armenian martyrs.

In the evening, the 90th Anniversary Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide under the primateship of His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian was held at Willoughby Town Hall, Sydney. Guest speaker for the evening was Mrs Hilda Tchoboian, Chairperson of the Armenian European Federation. The commemoration evening gathered a capacity crowd of over 800. The Primate delivered the closing address recalling on an account given by Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, American Ambassador at Constantinople from 1913 to 1916, likening the resilient Armenian spirit to the following episode with Talaat Pasha. At a dinner party when the Ambassador appealed to Talaat on the mistreatment of the Armenians, Talaat angrily grabbed a bunch of grapes from the table, squeezed the grapes to a pulp extracting every ounce of juice, throwing it to the ground and asserted this was how he was going to quash the Armenians. To which the American Ambassador replied yes, he had indeed succeeded in extracting the juice from the grapes and pulverising the fruit but was unable to crush its seeds.

Early Monday dawn on 25 April, the Primate accompanied by Diocesan Council Chairman, Mr Armen Baghdasarayan, attended the Chatswood-Willoughby ANZAC Dawn Service, a service of remembrance and homage. ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance and marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. When forces landed at Gallipoli in Turkey on 25 April, 1915 they met fierce resistance from Turkish defenders and over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed with a multitude of heavy casualties. 25 April has become the day on which Australians remember the sacrifice of those who died in war.

Early morning on 25 April, His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian travelled to Auckland, New Zealand and met with the small Armenian community to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide that same evening.
The Archbishop celebrated the Divine Liturgy and Requiem Service at St Peter's Anglican Church, Takapuna that was followed by a commemoration evening where the Primate gave the keynote address.