On Tuesday 9th August 2022, the convenors of the New South Wales Armenia-Australia Friendship Group appealed to Australia\u2019s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon. Penny Wong, requesting the Federal Government publicly condemns Azerbaijan\u2019s latest attacks against the indigenous Armenians of the Republic of Artsakh, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Member for Davidson and Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, the Hon. Jonathan O\u2019Dea and Member of the Legislative Council, the Hon. Walt Secord\u2013\u2013who are Chair and Vice-Chair of the Armenia-Australia Friendship Group\u2013\u2013raised concern over the latest unprovoked ceasefire violation committed by Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Significantly, their letter voiced the bipartisan group\u2019s objection over the targeted attacks against civilian settlements in Martuni, and attempts by Azerbaijan to cross the predetermined line of contact as determined by the November 2020 trilateral agreement, violating several fundamental human rights, resulting in the death of two Armenian servicemen and leaving 19 wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter co-signed by O\u2019Dea and Secord read: \u201cThe Russian Defence Ministry and its peacekeeping contingents stationed in Artsakh verified on Tuesday that the attacks were launched by Azerbaijani Armed Forces using a range of weapons. Azerbaijan\u2019s Defence Ministry even boasted about their attacks on video via social media.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe parliamentary group ask that your government seriously consider publicly condemning Azerbaijan\u2019s recent illegal violations of the ceasefire agreement,\u201d their letter added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ANC-AU Executive Director, Michael Kolokossian said: \u201cAzerbaijan\u2019s criminal behaviour and use of force is the most significant violation of the ceasefire agreement recorded since the end of the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war, and through this brute force has cornered the Republics of Armenia and Artsakh into concessions that go beyond the scope of the November 9 ceasefire agreement, specifically the closure of the only land corridor between Artsakh and Armenia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This new wave of aggression has resulted in the forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of thousands of Armenians from the villages of Berdzor and Aghavno, located inside the Berdzor (Lachin) corridor, which represents a clear violation of Article 7, Section 1(d) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, prohibiting the “deportation or forcible transfer of population”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn behalf of the Armenian-Australian community, we thank Mr Jonathan O\u2019Dea and Mr Walt Secord for joining many international political leaders, who seek to defend the human rights of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, by stopping Azerbaijan\u2019s aggression against the self-determined Republic of Artsakh,\u201d added Kolokossian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe autocratic regime of Azerbaijan has consistently proven that it will terrorise the indigenous Armenians of Artsakh. It has not returned Armenian POWs, it has not withdrawn from the sovereign borders of Armenia, it exacerbates the humanitarian crisis in the region by cutting off natural gas supplies between Artsakh and Armenia, and has now conducted aggressive military operations. These are actions of a criminal state, emboldened by the international community’s silence and \u2018both side-ist\u2019 rhetoric, which this statement exposes as false and dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kolokossian added: \u201cAustralia must rightfully champion a different path, by publicly speaking out against Azerbaijan\u2019s unprovoked aggressions and upholding the values of truth, justice and international law.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Tuesday 9th August 2022, the convenors of the New South Wales Armenia-Australia Friendship Group appealed to Australia\u2019s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon. Penny Wong, requesting the Federal Government publicly condemns Azerbaijan\u2019s latest attacks against the indigenous Armenians of the Republic of Artsakh, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU). Member for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20328,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[131,133,397,480],"class_list":["post-20327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-anc-australia","tag-anc-international","tag-397","tag-480"],"yoast_head":"\n