Australian-Azerbaijan-Turkic Friendship has sent a letter on behalf of Azerbaijani community of Australia to the Hon. Amanda Fazio, Member of the Legislative Council, and all members of the Legislative Council of the NSW Parliament in response to her misleading speech on Nagorno Karabakh Conflict.
Dear Ms Fazio,
We, the Azerbaijani community of Australia, are deeply disappointed and concerned over your recent misleading and biased speech distorting the facts and realities on the intensive and deadly violation of the ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia by Armenian Armed Forces and Armenian-backed armed separatists with a view to derailing the internationally-brokered negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
Nagorno Karabakh is officially recognized by the all United Nations member states including the Commonwealth of Australia as a sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. It is under illegal occupation by Armenian Armed Forces.
The UN Security Council has to date issued four resolutions (#822, #853, #874, #884) on unconditional and immediate withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, in addition to the repeated resolutions by the UN General Assembly. The resolutions mentioned are publicly available on the official website of the United Nations.
There are similar resolutions by the Council of Europe (CoE), European Parliament (EP), European Union (EU), Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organizations, publicly available on their respective official websites and bulletins.
The OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by the United States, France and Russia, has been endeavoring to broker a negotiated deal to end the deadly conflict within the cardinal principles of international law and the UN, including territorial integrity and inviolability of sovereign borders.
Dear Ms Fazio, we are disappointed to hear about your sponsored illegal trip to the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan without required entry permissions, which resulted in your being declared as persona non grata by the Republic of Azerbaijan.
We are also disturbed to see you involved in Armenian lobby groups’ misleading smear campaign worldwide to portray the Republic of Azerbaijan as the culprit of the recent escalation with the intention of achieving international recognition of the so-called “Republic of Nagorno Karabakh” in the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Totally differently from what is presented in your speech, recently inspired by the separatist movements in Ukraine, the Armenian Army and Armenian-backed armed separatists started to violate the 1994 ceasefire agreement, killing 15 Azerbaijani servicemen between the 28th of July and the 3rd of August, and shooting Azerbaijani civilians including children. It was an attempt to torpedo the ongoing negotiations mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group on the peaceful settlement of the conflict, and to destabilize the region where Azerbaijan, as a major source of energy resources, is seen as the main alternative oil and gas supplier for the European Union.
This happens amid the European Union’s endeavour to diversify its energy sources and routes to reduce its reliance on Russian supplies.
According to the latest information, the Armenian Army and Armenian-backed armed separatists continue to violate the ceasefire although recently the United Nations Secretary General, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United States Department of State and the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation have expressed deep concerns over the escalation of violence and violation of the ceasefire agreement.
We would like to mention that the Republic of Azerbaijan, as a victim of the Armenian military separatist aggression, has been left with nearly 1 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP) as reflected in the emergency humanitarian assistance resolutions adopted at the UN General Assembly, including the 48th session, and in formal instruments of international human rights organizations. Given a population of 9 million, Azerbaijan has the highest number of refugees and IDPs per capita in the world.
Dear Ms Fazio, it is disappointing that your speech, undoubtedly based on the data of Armenian side without any research and analysis, is contradictory to the position of the Commonwealth of Australia, incites hatred between the communities in Australia, and completely distorts the actual facts about the roots of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, including the dates, figures, and decisions.
If you have an interest in developments in the region of the South Caucasus as mentioned in your speech, we, the community members, can meet with you to present information and facts on the issue from our side.