John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The first anniversary of the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the republic of Artsakh was marked on 27 September. Bennelong is home to the largest Armenian diaspora in Australia, many of whom have friends and family and heritage from Artsakh. The suffering in this region clearly and deeply affects many in my electorate.

When I visited Artsakh in 2019 I was struck by the normality of the place in an area constantly threatened by its neighbour. I was amazed by the hardiness and resilience of the people in the towns I visited. But just a year later we saw tragic images of roads clogged with refugees—a direct juxtaposition of images taken nearly 100 years earlier of the victims of the Armenian genocide. This was a heart-wrenching event in a part of the world that has known much suffering.

A ceasefire agreement was reached on 9 November, but sadly it did not end the fighting. Since then I have heard reports of 100,000 Armenian civilians being uprooted from their homes, 5,000 having been killed and hundreds of Armenians having been imprisoned. The fighting must stop. The ceasefire must hold. There must be serious and open dialogue between the two countries. Ownership of ancient lands is complex, but no progress will be made while bullets continue to fly. When states talk of war, it's always the people on the ground who suffer, the people of Artsakh— (Time expired)