The Artsakh Union has sent a protest note to the governments of countries whose presidents or other high-ranking representatives participated last week in the 17th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization in occupied Stepanakert. The aforementioned countries are: Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), and Nigeria.
The protest note states, in particular:
The Artsakh Union, as a leading community organization, strongly condemns the organization of the 17th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), held on July 3–4 in Stepanakert—the capital of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) – currently under Azerbaijani occupation. We also express our deep concern and condemnation regarding the illegal high-level participation of your government in this event.
Between 2020 and 2023, Azerbaijan conducted a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the indigenous Armenian population of Artsakh. The consequences of this policy were tragically evident during your visit: a fully depopulated homeland, widespread destruction of property and an enduring assault on cultural heritage.
Read also
The hosting of official international events in occupied Artsakh represents a deliberate attempt by Azerbaijan to legitimize the consequences of its unlawful use of force, mass displacement and cultural erasure.
While official communications described the summit’s aim as promoting economic cooperation and regional development, sustainable peace and development in the South Caucasus cannot be achieved without the inclusive participation and collective return of the people of Artsakh.
Their safe, dignified, unimpeded, sustainable and expeditious return to their homeland must be ensured in line with international legal norms, including:
• The International Court of Justice’s ruling (November 17, 2023), and
• The UN Human Right Council’s statement on (October 11, 2023).
Any actions or visits that contribute to the de facto legitimization of the occupation and the status quo imposed through force directly undermine international efforts toward justice, reconciliation and durable peace. Therefore, your participation in this event risks being interpreted as a departure from international legal principles, and whether intentional or not, may be seen as alignment with Azerbaijan’s policy of racial discrimination and cultural destruction.
We also stress that hosting such an event in occupied Stepanakert—amid Azerbaijan’s ongoing destruction, falsification and appropriation of Armenian religious and cultural heritage, and its refusal to allow UNESCO and other human rights fact-finding missions—is especially provocative and alarming.
We remind you that the continued vandalism of cultural and religious sites, desecration of churches and violations of property rights in Artsakh are not only breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law, but also violate the binding provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice on December 7, 2021, which called on Azerbaijan to prevent and punish such acts.
In light of the above, we strongly urge your government to publicly clarify its position regarding the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and its forcibly displaced people, and to refrain from any actions that may be construed as recognition or endorsement of Azerbaijan’s policy of occupation and genocide erasure.
Furthermore, we call on the international community to provide a robust, coordinated and principled response to the ongoing acts of cultural genocide, as well as to uphold the rights of the forcibly displaced Armenian population of Artsakh.
Artsakh Union
