Senator the Hon. Simon Birmingham, Australia’s Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, has responded to an appeal by the Armenian National Committee of Australia’s (ANC-AU), raising serious concern over the restrictions imposed by Azerbaijan on the Berdzor (Lachin) corridor for over nine days, violating the rights of over 120,000 Artsakh Armenians.
Senator Birmingham, who was appointed as the Opposition’s Foreign Affairs leader following the 2022 Australian Federal Elections, has worked closely with the ANC-AU and most recently condemned Azerbaijan’s unprovoked invasion of the Republic of Armenia’s sovereign borders.
His letter read: “The Coalition is concerned about developments which are impacting the access corridor, and also reports of blockades which have humanitarian consequences for civilians in the region.”
“The Coalition calls for all parties to respect the November 2020 agreement, under which Azerbaijan guaranteed the safe movement of citizens, vehicles and cargo in both directions along the corridor.”
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Senator Birmingham’s response also reiterated that the rights of civilians to protest should not threaten the safety of Armenians.
The ANC-AU anticipates Senator Birmingham’s letter to follow with a public statement on the issue calling on Azerbaijan to re-open the corridor, which would be in line with the positions expressed of Australia’s allies, including the USA, France, Canada, Greece, Cyprus and most recently, the Senates in Uruguay and Spain.
“We remain hopeful that Australia’s Government and Opposition will publicly echo the sentiments of our allies and, most recently, the statements made by representatives at the recent UN Security Council meeting calling on Azerbaijan to re-open the corridor to avoid a humanitarian crisis,” said ANC-AU Executive Director Michael Kolokossian.
“As a result of the international community’s pressure, Azerbaijan was forced to reinstate the gas supply between Artsakh and Armenia. With Australian Foreign Affairs leaders, including Senator Wong and Senator Birmingham, adding their voices for Azerbaijan to end the blockade, humanity can avoid another humanitarian crisis,” added Kolokossian.
