CANBERRA: In response to letters sent by the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Armenia and the National Council of Churches Australia (NCCA) the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon. Penny Wong, has outlined Australia’s position on Armenian heritage desecration by Azerbaijan, rights for displaced Armenians from Artsakh and arbitrary arrests by Azerbaijan.
In the formal responses to the NCCA and NSW Parliamentary Friends of Armenia, Minister Wong reaffirmed the Australian Government’s position on Azerbaijan’s erasure of Armenian identity in Artsakh and said “Australia joined the statement on the Situation in Nagorno-Karabakh at the 54th Session of the Human Rights Council that urged Azerbaijan to protect Armenian cultural and religious heritage.”
Regarding the rights of displaced Armenians from Artsakh, the letter said, “at the time, I released a statement making clear Azerbaijan should guarantee the rights and security of the inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh and those who wish to return.”
Whilst Minister Wong also noted that the Australian Government had called upon Azerbaijan to “cease arbitrary arrests and investigate allegations of ill-treatment” through the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review mechanism, there is no clear stance on the ongoing detention of Armenian hostages.
Minister Wong’s correspondence comes in response to separate letters sent by the NCCA General Secretary, Elizabeth Stone, sent on 7 August 2025 and the co-chairs of the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Armenia, Dr Hugh McDermott MP & Mr Tim James MP, sent on 25 August 2025.
Moreover, the letter penned by the NSW friendship group on 25 August, 2025, outlined several concerns held by the Armenian community and its allies surrounding the peace process being undertaken by Armenia & Azerbaijan. Namely, that these peace-talks have failed to hold Azerbaijan accountable and address several issues stemming from the Artsakh conflict.
ANC-AU Executive Director, Michael Kolokossian, has welcomed the Foreign Minister’s response and said: “We appreciate Minister Wong’s recognition of the ongoing suffering of the Armenian people of Artsakh and her reaffirmation of Australia’s commitment to humanitarian values”.
Recent correspondence from ANC-AU Executive Director, Michael Kolokossian, on 7 October 2025, has called for an even greater shift in Australia’s position in line with the United States of America State Department, which on 25 September, called, “on the Azerbaijani government to protect Armenian heritage sites in Nagorno-Karabakh”, and, ”to ensure the “return of ethnic Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh”. The letter also highlighted recent calls made by President Trump, calling for the release of 23 Armenian hostages currently detained in Azerbaijan.
Kolokossian said, “We will continue to engage with the Australian Government respectfully to ensure stronger measures are taken to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its crimes and to resolve these ongoing human rights and humanitarian issues".
The letters from the NCCA and the NSW Parliamentary Friendship Group followed a series of meetings with leaders from each respective body, where the ANC-AU advocated on behalf of the Armenian-Australian community regarding the urgent human rights situation.
