Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My constituency question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Minister, in Cowan I have constituents of Azerbaijani and Turkish origins, and they have contacted me and asked me about the 1992-93 Armenian occupation of Azerbaijan territory—namely, Nagorno-Karabakh and nearby regions. What is the government's view on this occupation? And does the government recognise these regions as belonging to Azerbaijan?

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Cowan for his question. I acknowledge the deep and consistent support he provides for a number of ethnic communities in his electorate. The Australian government has a longstanding policy of condemning the illegal occupation of the sovereign territory of nations around the world. An example would be Russia's illegal occupation of Crimea, the breach of Ukraine's sovereignty. We were very outspoken on that occasion. Likewise, in the case of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Australian government's policy is to recognise the sovereignty of Azerbaijan. We do not recognise Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state. Indeed, the Australian government supports the efforts of what is known as the Minsk Group—chaired by Russia, France and the United States, with other members including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey and Belarus—to resolve the situation. It has been our consistent position that the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan should come together peacefully to resolve the issue, to end the conflict and to end the occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh area.