The unexpected and violent attack by the Azerbaijani army since April 1, 2016 along the Line of Contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone undermined the peaceful efforts of OSCE. We join you in condemning this unprecedented violence. Hundreds of innocent people on both sides have succumbed to this on-going conflict, and we have yet to see an end to it. Imagine our surprise, when on the official website for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, we saw these exact words: “Living Together In Inclusive Societies: A Challenge and A Goal” will be the theme of the 7th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), to be held 25-27 April, 2016 in Baku, Azerbaijan. By stressing the “inclusive” aspect of “living together,” the UNAOC 7th Global Forum will harness the multiple perspectives of various sectors to meet the challenge of, and progress towards, inclusive living in today’s increasingly diverse societies. Azerbaijan, as the host country for this Forum, serves as a model of a country where people have been living inclusively together for centuries.
The historical tolerance of Azerbaijan’s people, the political leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, and Azerbaijan’s location between Eastern Europe and Western Asia have combined to foster an environment where people of various religions and ethnicities have lived together in mutual respect and harmony for national development. Azerbaijan’s experience, despite challenges, is an example of a country moving forward to substantive progress through inclusion. If, by stating the above, Azerbaijan implies that Nagorno-Karabakh is their territory, then considering the recent events we can conclude that Azerbaijan is attacking its own people, which of course is not true.
During the 20th century, numerous atrocities were committed by successive Azeri regimes that cleansed its territories of any Armenians. These pogroms took place in 1905-1907 in Shushi, Baku, Nakhichevan and Elizavetpol, followed by the 1918 massacres in Baku and the destruction and burning of Shushi in 1920, and last, but not least, during the war in late 1980s and early 1990s. Today, almost 92% of the country’s population is Azerbaijani.
This clearly contradicts with the statements above, especially implying that Azerbaijan is “a model of a country where people have been living inclusively together for centuries.” In view of the recent events and to uphold the principles of the UNAOC, we ask you to seriously consider either cancelling this year’s 7th Global Forum of the UNAOC or at least changing the location. Wouldn’t it be a noble call for the UN to promote a political society free of hypocrisy? This will send a strong message that the UN embodies the principles of civil society and does not tolerate such behavior. We ask you to reconsider this ironic location and timing of the Forum, which is scheduled to be held from April 25th -27th, a day after the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide (April 24th). We truly appreciate your efforts in stabilizing the region and fostering peace talks, and we hope you will make the right decision considering how the conflict has developed in the past few days.
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