SYDNEY & YEREVAN: On Monday 21st February 2022, Co-Chairs of the Armenia-Australia Inter-Parliamentary Union (Friendship Group), Trent Zimmerman MP and Joel Fitzgibbon MP met with the Chair of the Armenia-Australia Friendship Group in Armenia's National Assembly, Ishkhan Saghatelyan MP, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
The meeting was the first virtual dialogue held between the leaders, following the re-establishment of the Armenia-Australia Friendship Group by the National Assembly of Armenia, following which Deputy Speaker Saghatelyan was nominated to lead.
The meeting, organised by the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), was used as an opportunity for the leaders of each friendship group to meet and update one another on the key priorities of their respective nations.
ANC-AU Executive Director Haig Kayserian and ANC-AU Political Affairs Director Michael Kolokossian were present throughout the duration of the meeting.
The virtual meeting also provided the Australian Co-Chairs with the opportunity to hear from Saghatelyan regarding Azerbaijan's ongoing aggression against the Republics of Armenia and Artsakh and the issues surrounding the current Turkey-Armenia "normalisation" process.
"This initial meeting was held before a backdrop of much diplomatic and security uncertainty and concern in the Republic of Armenia, and we thank representatives Mr. Zimmerman and Mr. Fitzgibbon for their keen interest and questions to Mr. Saghatelyan about these issues," said Kayserian.
Saghatelyan thanked Zimmerman and Fitzgibbon for their commitment to advocating for Federal recognition of the Armenian Genocide and their support for the independence of the Republic of Artsakh through their membership in the Australian Friends of Artsakh network.
The Deputy Speaker also thanked the Australian Government for standing up for the OSCE Minsk process as the only sustainable route to justice and peace in Nagorno Karabakh.
The leaders expressed their willingness to further expand bilateral relations in the near future through recurring virtual meetings and are hopeful to participate in future foreign delegations.
