SYDNEY: The New South Wales Young Liberal Party Conference has unanimously passed a statement calling for an end to Azerbaijan's attempts to invade the Armenian Republic of Artsakh, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
The NSW Young Liberals held their Conference at the Epping Club in Sydney, where members of the Armenian Youth Federation of Australia (AYF-AU) held a silent demonstration raising awareness of the plight of the indigenous Armenians of Artsakh, which has been subjected to large-scale attacks by Turkey-backed Azerbaijani forces since 27th September 2020, resulting in hundreds of military and civilian deaths, thousands of injuries, thousands of homes destroyed, and even the shelling of an Armenian church.
Members of the NSW Young Liberals, J
ohn-Paul Baladi and Maia Edge spoke on the motion, which "supports and stands with the Australian Armenian community as their homeland is threatened by invasion and terror". The statement further "calls for the withdrawal of armed forces and weaponry from within Armenia’s borders and the restoration of peace and diplomacy within the region".
ANC-AU Executive Director, Haig Kayserian thanked the NSW Young Liberals for their support.
"In that room were some of the most politically engaged young people in Australia, future leaders of this country along with current Members of Parliament, and for this statement to pass unanimously is evidence of their support for Armenians at a time they face an existential threat at the hands of autocratic dictators," said Kayserian.
"We thank the members who moved and spoke on the issue, as well as the dozens of Young Liberals who helped us make this important statement in support of truth and justice."
Kayserian added: "We thank the Armenian Youth Federation of Australia for continuing to spread awareness of what's going on in the Republic of Artsakh, and helping our community reach milestones such as this one."
To participate in such actions, AYF-AU has invited community members to fill out
a form here.
Earlier this week, Federal Members of Parliament
Trent Zimmerman and
John Alexander spoke in support of Artsakh, condemning Azerbaijan's attacks.
This is in addition to public statements of support from various Federal, State and Local parliamentarians, The Australian Greens political party and Ryde City Council.
