On October 22, 2025, the France–Artsakh Friendship Circle organized a working meeting in Paris dedicated to the protection of the rights of the people of Artsakh and to the cases submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The event was attended by members of the French National Assembly and the Senate, as well as the Representative of Artsakh, Hovhannes Gevorgyan.
The keynote speaker of the meeting was Armen Harutyunyan, Doctor of Law, Human Rights Defender of Armenia (2006–2011), Regional Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Central Asia (2011–2014), Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (2014–2015), and Judge of the European Court of Human Rights (2015–2025).
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In his remarks, Harutyunyan emphasized that the issue of Artsakh should be regarded not as a territorial dispute, but as a human rights issue. He noted that Azerbaijan’s attempts to present the Artsakh question merely as a territorial conflict have never been accepted by any international body — neither by the United Nations Security Council nor by the OSCE Minsk Group.
Harutyunyan underlined the importance of keeping the right of return of the people of Artsakh high on the international agenda, grounded in international legal instruments and conventions. He further argued that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be viewed in the broader context of the “Great Turan” project, describing it as a major civilizational challenge that threatens the stability of the entire region.
Text by Ani Chakmishyan
Photos by Lidia Gasparyan
