CANBERRA: The co-convenors of the Australia-Armenia Inter-Parliamentary Union (Friendship Group), Trent Zimmerman MP and Joel Fitzgibbon MP have released a statement strongly condemning Azerbaijan's provocative attacks on the Armenian border town of Tavush over recent days, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
The leaders of the Armenian Caucus in Australia's Federal Parliament called on "Azerbaijan to remain compliant with their ceasefire obligations and with international calls to maintain peace during the COVID-19 crisis" in their statement, released as Azerbaijan escalated threats of furthering their aggression by targeting Armenia's nuclear power plant.
"As co-convenors of the Australia-Armenia Inter-Parliamentary Union, we are deeply disturbed by the outbreak of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan following Azeri aggression in the Armenian border region of Tavush," read the statement from Member for North Sydney Zimmerman and Member for Hunter Fitzgibbon, who is Australia's former Defence Minister.
"We call on Azerbaijan to remain compliant with their ceasefire obligations and with international calls to maintain peace during the COVID-19 crisis. Too many soldiers have already lost their lives and civilians in Armenian border towns are at risk. We are also concerned about reports of Azeri cyber-attacks on Armenian assets."
"Breaches of the ceasefire such as this only serve to destabilise an entire region and make the task of the Minsk Group in brokering a lasting peaceful settlement more difficult."
Zimmerman and Fitzgibbon added: "Azerbaijan must cease aggressive military action and work with Armenia to de-escalate the current conflict."
ANC-AU Executive Director Haig Kayserian thanked the co-convenors of the Australia-Armenia Inter-Parliamentary Union for their support.
"We are grateful Mr. Zimmerman and Mr. Fitzgibbon have delivered an absolute condemnation of the fundamentalist Azerbaijani dictatorship's attacks on Armenia's sovereign borders," said Kayserian.
"The attacks, coupled with the threats of nuclear terrorism by the Aliyev regime, are deeply concerning for Armenian-Australians, and we are fortunate to have the support of some of Australia's most respected political leaders."
