The convenors of the New South Wales Armenia-Australia Friendship Group appealed to Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon. Penny Wong, requesting the Federal Government publicly condemns Azerbaijan’s latest attacks against the indigenous Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), reported ( http://www.anc.org.au/news/Media-Releases/New-South-Wales-Parliamentary-Friends-of-Armenia-Call-on-Australian-Government-to-Condemn-Azerbaijani-Aggression ) the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
Member for Davidson and Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, the Hon. Jonathan O’Dea and Member of the Legislative Council, the Hon. Walt Secord––who are Chair and Vice-Chair of the Armenia-Australia Friendship Group––raised concern over the latest unprovoked ceasefire violation committed by Azerbaijan.
Their letter voiced the bipartisan group’s 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.
“The parliamentary group ask that your government seriously consider publicly condemning Azerbaijan’s recent illegal violations of the ceasefire agreement,” their letter added.
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.”