SYDNEY: Armenian-Australians are set to demonstrate their unwavering support for the people of Nagorno Karabakh (Armenian Republic of Artsakh) in front of the Consulate of the Russian Federation in Woollahra on 25 September 2023, from 1pm to 2pm.
The demonstration will serve as a resounding response to the concerning failures of the security measures provided by the Russian peacekeepers amid the deepening human rights crisis being faced by the indigenous Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh, who are facing genocide at the hands of Azerbaijan.
“Our community is distressed over the escalating violence and instability in Nagorno Karabakh, where hundreds of civilian lives have been lost,” said one of the organisers, Nanor Shokayan of the Armenian Youth Federation of Australia.
“Ethnic cleansing is occurring in real time. This follows nearly 10 months of the region’s indigenous Armenians being blockaded from Armenia and the rest of the world, being subjected to starvation and lacking access to medical necessities by the criminal petro-dictatorship of Ilham Aliyev.”
“This is a harrowing result of Russia's abysmal failure in its peacekeeping mission,” Shokayan added.
Russia was charged with keeping the peace as part of a ceasefire it negotiated between Armenia and Azerbaijan following the latter’s initiated 44-day war to claim the region that has never been part of an independent Azerbaijan.
“Thousands of Armenians have been left stranded, hundreds have already lost their lives, and it’s clear that more will continue to die so long as the Government of Azerbaijan is not held accountable. Our call for this demonstration is swift action to ensure the safety of the 120,000 Armenians in the region, who have been targeted by the fascist government of Azerbaijan,” said Vache Kahramanian, Chairperson of the Armenian National Committee of Australia.
“We can not emphasise enough the emotional and psychological impact such military aggression is having on the Armenian-Australian community. A community of descendants of the Armenian Genocide are being re-traumatised by witnessing their brothers and sisters overseas experience ethnic cleansing, while the world - included our supposedly closest ally, stands idly by.”
The Armenian-Australian community is also planning actions to call the rest of the world’s powers to account, as their compatriots face the existential reality of another genocide on their ancestral lands.
Event Details:Date: Monday, 25 September 2023
Time: 1-2pm
Location: Consulate General of the Russian Federation (7-9 Fullerton St, Woollahra NSW 2025)
