SYDNEY: The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) has written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressing serious concerns over his recent meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the sidelines of COP31, calling on the Australian Government to ensure that its diplomatic engagement with Turkey does not come at the expense of its commitment to human rights and international law.
The meeting, which reportedly centred on bilateral relations, regional and global affairs, trade and opportunities for further cooperation, has raised concerns within the Armenian-Australian community over Australia's continued pursuit of closer relations with Turkey without raising the latter’s longstanding record of human rights violations, genocide denial and military involvement in regional conflicts.
In its letter, the ANC-AU questioned how the Australian Government reconciles its commitment to the international rules-based order with its diplomatic engagement with a nation whose history is marked by the genocide of more than 2.5 million Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks, the continued occupation of northern Cyprus, and its military and political support for Azerbaijan during the 2020 Artsakh War.
For over 50 years, Armenian-Australians have campaigned for the formal legislative recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides, a longstanding request that successive Australian Governments, including that of Prime Minister Albanese, have failed to act upon.
The ANC-AU highlighted that the history of these genocides is central not only to the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek communities, but also to Australia's own humanitarian legacy, having prompted one of the nation's earliest major international humanitarian relief efforts.
Despite overwhelming scholarly consensus recognising the Armenian Genocide and its formal acknowledgement by numerous nations around the world, Turkey continues to deny that genocide occurred.
The letter also drew attention to Turkey's continued military occupation of northern Cyprus since 1974, despite United Nations Security Council Resolutions 541 (1983) and 550 (1984), which rejected the purported independence of Northern Cyprus and reaffirmed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus.
Furthermore, the ANC-AU raised Turkey's significant military and political support for Azerbaijan during the 2020 Artsakh War, including the supply of military equipment and armed drones. United Nations human rights experts also raised concerns over reports that Syrian fighters had been recruited and deployed to support Azerbaijani forces with Turkish assistance.
Turkey's continued support for Azerbaijan preceded its September 2023 military offensive against the Republic of Artsakh, which resulted in the forced displacement of more than 100,000 indigenous Armenians from their ancestral homeland.
In its correspondence, the ANC-AU called on Prime Minister Albanese to clarify whether any of these issues were raised during his meeting with President Erdoğan and whether the Australian Government intends to address them in its ongoing diplomatic relationship with Turkey.
The letter also urged the Prime Minister to reconsider the Australian Government's longstanding position on the formal legislative recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides and to outline what diplomatic, economic or other measures it would consider to encourage accountability for serious human rights violations and breaches of international law.
While acknowledging the importance of maintaining diplomatic relationships, the ANC-AU emphasised that such engagement must not provide an opportunity for longstanding injustices to be overlooked.
In addition to its correspondence with the Prime Minister, the ANC-AU has also written to the Member for Bradfield and Australian Friends of Artsakh Member, Ms Nicolette Boele MP, and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Hon. Chris Bowen MP, both of whom have travelled to Turkey to participate in COP31.
In its correspondence, the ANC-AU acknowledged the importance of international cooperation on climate change but emphasised that such engagement should not come at the expense of Australia's commitment to human rights and international law. The organisation urged both representatives to use their presence in Turkey, and any opportunities for engagement with Turkish officials, to raise concerns regarding Turkey's continued denial of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides, its involvement in the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Artsakh, and its broader human rights record.
Speaking on the matter, ANC-AU Political Affairs Director, Sebastian Majarian, said: “
Australia cannot claim to champion human rights and the international rules-based order while turning a blind eye to the historical and ongoing injustices perpetrated by its diplomatic partners. We are not opposed to diplomatic engagement with Turkey, but we firmly believe that such engagement must be accompanied by a willingness to confront difficult truths, demand accountability and uphold the very principles Australia claims to stand for."
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We urge Prime Minister Albanese and Australia's representatives at COP31 to ensure that the pursuit of closer cooperation with Turkey does not come at the expense of justice for the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek communities.”
