Suleyman and Southwick’s plans for a ‘Parliamentary Friends of Azerbaijan’ halted with joint effort from Cypriot Australian community

The Armenian National Committee of Australia has thanked the Victoria Justice for Cyprus Co-ordinating Committee for their immediate action, stating they stand in solidarity with the Cypriot cause.

In his letter to Victorian parliamentarians, President of SEKA Pavlos Andronikos had opposed any initiative that may "provide a platform to the Azerbaijani regime" in the Victorian parliament. Here, supporters and members of the Armenian-Australian community rally calling on Australia to take a firm approach to help 'End The Blockade' of Artsakh in September 2023. Photo: AAP/Flavio Brancaleone

23 June 2024 6:10pm

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A joint coalition of Armenian, Greek, Cypriot, Assyrian, Kurdish and Christian bodies in Australia has successfully boycotted plans to establish a parliamentary friends of Azerbaijan in Victoria.

Advocacy efforts spearheaded by the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) achieved the desired result within days.

It follows information the ANC-AU received this week from its sources that Victorian MPs Natalie Suleyman (Labor) and David Southwick (Liberal) had sent out a mass email to Victorian parliamentarians inviting them to the inaugural meeting of the ‘parliamentary friends of Azerbaijan’ to the Victorian parliament.

The ANC-AU addressed a thank you letter to Pavlos Andronikos, president of SEKA – Victoria Justice for Cyprus Co-ordinating Committee for the Greek Cypriot community’s support.

On behalf of SEKA, Andronikos had written to all Victorian parliamentarians expressing “deep concern” stressing that any attendance or participation in the forum “would send an inappropriate message, legitimising the crimes of Azerbaijan”.

He also called on MPs Suleyman and Southwick to rescind their invitation to the intended inaugural meeting.

“The military attack launched by Azerbaijan in September 2023 and the subsequent complete ethnic cleansing of the Republic of Artsakh’s (Nagorno-Karabakh’s) 150,000 Armenians brings back the similar pain and trauma of the occupation of Cyprus, which was imposed by force 50 years ago,” Andronikos stated.

In a thank you letter ANC-AU executive director Michael Kolossian, on behalf of the board and Victoria’s 15,000 Armenian-Australian community, he thanked the Greek Cypriot community for acting on the matter and “helping to put a stop to the intended Parliamentary Friends of Azerbaijan group in the Victorian Parliament.”

“Without your community’s support and the affirmative action of other civil society bodies across Victoria, we would not have been able to prevent both Natalie Suleyman MP and David Southwick MP, from hosting the inaugural meeting of the Parliamentary Friends of Azerbaijan.”

Thanks to the coalition of Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Cypriot, Kurdish and Christian bodies, Kolossian wrote, plans to “use the Victorian Parliament as a platform for a dictatorship to whitewash its crimes” were halted.

“Together, we have sent a message to Ms Natalie Suelyman MP, that we will no longer bow to pressure from the Azerbaijani and Turkish embassies and will stand up to any attempts to silence our communities.

“On behalf of the Armenian-Australian community living in Victoria, we once again express our deep gratitude to you for endorsing our position within less the 36 hours and contributing towards this positive outcome.”

The statement concluded with an expression of solidarity to the Cypriot cause.

“We look forward to standing with you and your community in your time of need and pledge to always lend a helping hand whenever our people are persecuted in our homelands or here in Australia.”