The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) has appealed to three Australian Foreign Affairs leaders representing different political parties, urging them to immediately condemn Azerbaijan and urge the petro-dictatorship to end its blockade between the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh.
The peak public affairs body of the Armenian-Australian community sent letters to Senator the Hon. Penny Wong, Foreign Affairs Minister of Australia, Senator the Hon. Simon Birmingham, Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister of Australia and Senator Jordan Steele-John, The Australian Greens’ Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs – who all respectively condemned Azerbaijan’s latest invasion against the Republic of Armenia.
The ANC-AU’s latest appeal comes after reports from Gegham Stepanyan, the Republic of Artsakh’s Human Rights Ombudsman, indicated that on 12 December 2022, at approximately 10:30 am (local time), a group of Azerbaijani provocateurs with clear links to the Azerbaijani regime disguised as “environmentalist protesters”, blocked the Stepanakert-Goris highway in both directions, leaving the over 120,000 Armenians of Artsakh without access to Armenia and the outside world.
More recently, amid the road closures, pipelines supplying natural gas to Artsakh from Armenia that run through territory controlled by Azerbaijan have now been shut off for the second time this year by the Azerbaijani regime.
Read also
ANC-AU Executive Director Michael Kolokossian said: “Whilst Human Rights Watch has exposed Azerbaijan’s rigid control and blanket bans on protests and the rights to freedom of assembly, it is ironic and yet very concerning that the only opportunity for Azerbaijani citizens to exercise their right to assembly is when it threatens the lives of Armenians.”
“Furthermore, the closure of gas pipelines by Azerbaijani authorities sends a clear message that this ruthless humanitarian tactic is a coordinated attack to terrorise the local population and manufacture irreversible humanitarian consequences for the over 120,000 Artsakh residents,” added Kolokossian.
The ANC-AU’s letter calls on each of the Foreign Affairs leaders of the major political parties to join members of the international community, including the European Union, the United States of America and Canada, in bringing immediate attention to Azerbaijan’s criminal tactics and call on Azerbaijan to restore urgent natural gas supplies and unfettered movement between Armenia and Artsakh.
“Ultimately, the actions of the Azerbaijani regime are not only a clear violation of the November 9 2020, trilateral agreement but also grossly violate international humanitarian conventions, particularly the people of Artsakh’s fundamental right to freedom of movement,” the ANC-AU letter reads.
“We firmly believe and hope that Australia will urgently add its influential and respected international voice to help avert the very serious risk of a humanitarian disaster which is unfolding before us and send a clear message that such actions will not be tolerated by the international community,” the letter concludes.
On behalf of the over 50,000-strong Armenian-Australian community, the Armenian National Committee of Australia has also contacted several other prominent Australian legislators across the country, requesting they similarly condemn Azerbaijan’s blockade and ensure free and unencumbered access to this critical road for Armenians in Artsakh.
