CANBERRA: The Assyrian National Council - Australia has written directly to Australian's Foreign Affairs Minister, Senator the Hon. Penny Wong urging her government to signal immediate support for the people of Artsakh by calling for the opening the Berdzor (Lachin) corridor, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
At the request of the ANC-AU, Mr. Hermiz Shahen, President of the Assyrian National Council - Australia, amplified the concerns of the Armenian-Australian community, raising serious concern over Azerbaijan’s blockade against Artsakh.
The blockade, which commenced on the 12th of December 2022, has left 120,000 indigenous Armenians from Artsakh without access to food, medical supplies and vital humanitarian relief and over 1000 Artsakh citizens stranded in Armenia and unable to return home.
The letter reads: “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. The closure of the Lachin Corridor could cause severe humanitarian implications.”
The letter calls upon the Foreign Minister to give this matter special consideration and call on the Azerbaijani regime to urgently re-open the corridor between Armenia and Artsakh to ensure the free movement of people and goods.
The ANC-AU welcomed the continued support from the Assyrian-Australian community.
“We express our deep gratitude and thanks to the Assyrian-Australian community for their ongoing solidarity with Armenia, the Armenian people and the Armenian diaspora. We thank them for communicating our community’s concerns on this issue and adding their voice to our fight,” said ANC-AU Executive Director, Michael Kolokossian.
“It is deeply troubling that the Australian Government has chosen to remain silent on this issue. As food shelves are emptied in Artsakh, and medical supplies run dry, Australia will find itself on the wrong side of history should it sit back and silently watch the Christian Armenian population perish,” added Kolokossian.
The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) has appealed to several religious and community organisations across Australia requesting they call on the Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, Senator the Hon. Penny Wong to urge Azerbaijan to open the corridor.
