News

SYDNEY: Three members of the New South Wales Parliament have delivered powerful addresses on the floor of the Legislative Assembly to mark the first anniversary of the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, whilst calling on Australian elected officials to boycott the upcoming global climate conference (COP29) in Baku Azerbaijan, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).

Private Member Statements were delivered by Tim James MP - Member for Willoughby - and Hugh McDermott MP - Member for Prospect, who both addressed the issue on 19 September 2024, following on from Matt Cross MP - Member for Davidson, who delivered his statement on 26 September 2024.

All three speakers, who are also members of the Australian Friends of Artsakh network, condemned Azerbaijan’s illegal invasion of the sovereign borders of Armenia, the desecration of Armenian religious and cultural heritage sites, the illegal imprisonment of Armenian hostages - including government officials from Artsakh and Azerbaijan’s failure to facilitate the right of return of Artsakh refugees under international guarantees. As a consequence of their actions, the speakers called on Australian parliamentarians to stay home amid the upcoming COP29 summit.

McDermott said: “Azerbaijan [is] hosting the upcoming Global Climate Change Conference, COP 29, in Baku later this year. That conference will be held in the same city that Armenian political prisoners and hostages are illegally rotting in. I firmly believe that Australians should not attend the upcoming COP 29 conference. Any individual with a shred of integrity or conscience must abstain from the conference this year, lest they lend legitimacy and respect to a criminal regime that is deserving of neither.”

Watch Hugh McDermott’s full speech by clicking here or below.



Tim James, who rose immediately after Hugh McDermott to address the same issue, said: “I understand that Chris Bowen will be attending COP29, and I strongly urge him to reconsider this. His presence would be a direct affront to Australian-Armenians and to the principles of human dignity and international justice. By attending this summit, Chris Bowen would send a message to the world that Australia is willing to overlook the oppressive and dictatorial regime of Azerbaijan. To attend would be to legitimise a regime that has shown utter disregard for human rights.”

Watch Tim James’ full speech by clicking here or below.



The Member for Davidson, Matt Cross said: “Australia needs to send a strong message to the international community by boycotting the United Nations' Conference of the Parties 29 [COP29], to be held in Azerbaijan in November. For the Australian or New South Wales governments to visit Azerbaijan is to ignore and make light of our commitment to human rights. Attending would legitimise a regime that disregards human rights. The United Nations should have known better than to award an international conference to Azerbaijan, given its human rights record.”

Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia Michael Kolokossian, who watched the statements being delivered in Parliament, welcomed the powerful and emotional calls to action one year since the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh.

Kolokossain said, “You could feel their pain, you could hear their frustration. These are individuals who travelled halfway across the world to help bolster economic, cultural and diplomatic ties between Australia and Armenia, only to witness ethnic cleansing and a humanitarian crisis. ”

“McDermott, James and Cross have taken a principled stance. Azerbaijan is utilising COP29 as a platform to greenwash its human rights violations and crimes against humanity. It's inconceivable to think that world leaders, including Australian Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, will gather in a city, where mere kilometres away, Armenian hostages are rotting in prison cells.”

Earlier this month the Australian Greens also publicly slammed the United Nations’ decision to host COP29 in Azerbaijan in a statement released on the political party’s website. Read more here.