On April 24, 2025, we stand on the threshold of the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide — a day not only of remembrance and reverence, but also a condemning and admonishing reminder of a crime committed against humanity. This anniversary of the state-organized elimination of one and a half million innocent Armenians compels us to ask the same question again and again: why does justice remain blind to this day, while the criminals remain free and barbaric?
From 1915 to 1923, the Ottoman Empire and later the Republican Turkey not only annihilated an entire people but also sought to erase their memory and identity. Churches, monasteries, schools, and thousands of manuscripts were destroyed; cultural values were stolen and obliterated — all with the goal of erasing the Armenian name from the Armenian Highlands. This was not just genocide, but a civilizational crime.
Yet, the most horrifying reality is that this crime was never properly condemned and, moreover, became a precedent for new genocides and mass atrocities whose echoes manifested in various regions of the world at the end of the 20th century —Syria , Darfur, Cambodia, Rwanda… and continue even into the 21st century. The legacy of genocide was perpetuated and deepened by “Azerbaijan”, which has cynically and willingly carried out Turkey’s genocidal policies.
We have not forgotten, we will not forget, and we will not remain silent about:
• The 1918 massacres of Armenians in Baku,
• The 1920 pogroms in Shushi,
• The brutal killings of Armenians in Sumgait and Gandzak in 1988,
• The final massacres in Baku in 1990,
• The 1991-1992 terrorist operation “Ring”,
• The 1992 Maragha massacres,
• The glorification in Budapest of Gurgen Margaryan’s barbaric murder — when a man-like monster, having deliberately prepared, killed a sleeping Armenian officer with 16 axe blows,
• The war crimes against Artsakh in 2016 and 2020,
• The 2022-2023 blockade of Artsakh, its ethnic cleansing and occupation,
• And the ongoing cultural genocide to this day.
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All of this was made possible only in the atmosphere of international indifference, double standards, and silent complicity.
Today — one hundred and ten years later — the same methods, the same hatred, the same goals of erasing the Armenian presence are being realized by Azerbaijan, under the silent and passive watch of Europe and so-called Western “humanitarian values.”
After all this, does the international community still have the moral right to speak of human rights if it cannot recognize and punish the genocide that has continued for over a century? Can a civilization be called such if it cannot prevent history from repeating itself?
The September 2023 attack by “Azerbaijan” and the violent occupation of Artsakh, accompanied by the forced displacement of 150,000 Artsakh Armenians, was a newest crime against humanity, to which the only response was once again — silence. The systematic vandalism against Artsakh’s cultural heritage, the destruction of khachkars (cross-stones), churches, cemeteries, and the falsification of history are characterized as a continuing cultural genocide — all carried out at the level of state policy, under direct orders from the highest leadership of Azerbaijan.
Today we do not only commemorate the victims — we accuse:
• Turkey — for organizing and denying the genocide,
• “Azerbaijan” — for the ongoing ethnic cleansing and cultural destruction,
• And the international community — for its complacency, silence, and lack of justice.
We are not asking, we are demanding:
• Full recognition and condemnation of the Genocide,
• International assessment and response to the facts of cultural genocide,
• Sanctions against criminal states,
• Protection of the rights of the dispossessed people of Artsakh,
• And the implementation of international mechanisms for the protection of the Armenian cultural heritage.
We remember – to condemn.
We demand — to eliminate injustice and to combat and prevent the continued perpetration of crimes against humanity.
We defend — for the future.
Ombudsman of Culture of the Armenian Highlands