Azerbaijan continues to hold at least 24 Armenians hostage. Their show trials are underway.
Servicemen, civilians and the military-political leadership of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic are among the hostages.
Azerbaijan has sentenced or is on path to sentence them with the gravest charges of Azerbaijani criminal legislation.
From primary to secondary or tertiary importance for the government
Read also
“I’m confident that many more people are concerned for and empathize with the families of the hostages than what actually appears…but an issue here is – are there events or platforms where the population, where society can display empathy and the importance it gives to this issue?” Anna Melikyan, an Armenian human rights advocate, said, addressing the question whether the hostages have been forgotten by Armenian society.
Unlike the families of missing persons, families of the hostages are more restrained in public appearances out of security concerns for their relatives in Azerbaijan, Melikyan said.
She pointed out the rarity of coverage on the hostages by Armenian Public Television.
“This pertains to general policy. Yes, our government is trying to shift this issue from primary importance to secondary or even tertiary importance, at least as far as public discourse is concerned.”
The Catholicos’ remarks in Switzerland
Despite the passivity of the government, the issue remains a visible part of the Armenian Apostolic Church’s agenda. On May 27, Garegin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, referred to the hostage crisis during a conference on preserving Armenian heritage in Artsakh organized by the World Council of Churches and the Protestant Church of Switzerland.
“These unlawful acts and degrading cruelties are motivated by ethnic hatred and anti-Armenian sentiment,” His Holiness said, expressing hope that the international community will take effective measures for the swift release of the hostages.
Garegin II discussed the situation with Pope Leo XIV during the former’s visit to the Vatican, the Mother See of Holy Ejmiatsin reported.
“So, you’re saying there’re 23 Christians that you’d like to get out?” – Trump’s undelivered assurances
A glimmer of hope shined on Aug. 8 when the prime minister’s office published a snippet from the conversation between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington D.C., where President Trump is heard asking Prime Minister Pashinyan, “So, you’re saying there’re 23 Christians that you’d like to get out? Cause I’m gonna ask him to do that. I think he’ll do it for me.”
During a press briefing in November, the prime minister said he addressed the hostage crisis during his talk with the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. “During the meeting, I specifically addressed that issue, noting that President Trump had spoken publicly about his commitment to addressing this issue. I presented what we are doing on a bilateral level [with Azerbaijan] regarding that issue, and I asked the U.S. Under the Secretary of State to provide information on U.S. efforts made in that direction. I asked her to keep the issue in the spotlight.”
Prior to Trump’s involvement, the president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, after a visit to Baku and a conversation with presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev, wrote on X: “We are pleased Azerbaijan and Armenia have taken a big step forward and agreed to a peace treaty. I told him [Hajiyev] we should finalise this peace deal now, release the prisoners, and work together to make the region more secure and prosperous.”
The calls of the Trump administration have till now gone unfulfilled.
“These men are great examples for all Christians”
We, Armenians, are not alone in our concern and struggle for our compatriots. With us are many compassionate and righteous non-Armenian friends, including Joel Veldkamp, director of public advocacy at Christian Solidarity International (CSI). In his conversation with Aravot, Veldkamp said the kidnapping, detention and torture of Armenians aim to terrorize and demoralize Armenia and its friends.
“Instead of being demoralized, however, I find moral courage in the example that the hostages and their families have set for us. Vicken Euljeckjian’s wife, Linda, campaigns tirelessly for her husband every day. Vicken himself has demanded his rights by repeatedly going on hunger strike to win the right to talk to her. Ruben Vardanyan has shown dignity and courage throughout his show trial, dignity that shames his persecutors. David Babyan sacrificed himself by turning himself in willingly to his captors to help protect his people during the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh. These men are great examples for all Christians. They show us that the way of the cross is the way to true life and freedom, despite everything,” Veldkamp said.
Deteriorating health and resolute struggle
“I was awaiting this call for 45 days. His voice was changed, weak,” wife of 46-year-old Lebanese-Armenian repatriate Vicken Euljeckjian, Linda, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service in November. “I asked, ‘What happened to you, Vicken?’ He said, ‘Linda, I can’t walk anymore, my legs hurt me too much.’ My husband’s condition is very, very bad. When I think that he already needs a wheelchair, my heart sinks.” Azerbaijani forces abducted Vicken on Nov. 10, 2020. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2021.
70-year-old Vagif Khachatryan’s health deteriorates due to heart failure. He was abducted on July 29, 2023, in the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijani border officers while relocating to Armenia from Artsakh per doctor’s instruction. Khachatryan was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2023.
“After losing Artsakh, we will also lose Armenia in the coming years if we do not radically change our attitude towards the concepts of elite, power, state, and who should lead us,” announcing the end of his 22-day hunger strike in his Baku prison cell, philanthropist and former State Minister of Artsakh, Ruben Vardanyan, said. Even under captivity Ruben tries to share with us his contemplations about the future of Armenian statehood and society.
“I want to believe empathy still exists”
In the context of repatriating the hostages, human rights advocate Melikyan spoke on the right of demand and the need for mobilization. She says these are necessary to show the Armenian authorities that society prioritizes this issue, in turn prompting the government to act.
“I want to believe empathy still exists,” Melikyan hopes. “Agendas must be set. Rarely are they set automatically themselves. Either the families or the government, those with the necessary toolkit, must mobilize society. It appears there’s no mobilization․ Society does not intend to initiate something on its own because they do not even know what to initiate. They don’t want to cause harm but don’t know how to help.”
Melikyan positioned the issue on a wider picture, linking it with the prevailing apathy in the country after the 2020 war. She says the public response could have been different if there were hostages before 2020.
The Nagorno Karabakh conflict is not complicated
Finishing his remarks, Veldkamp from CSI said: “The world wants us to think that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is complicated. It actually isn’t that complicated, and the courage of these men makes clear for us who the oppressor is. They inspire me not to give up in my own work for the displaced people of Nagorno Karabakh, and to continue to demand freedom for all the innocent Armenians and Azerbaijanis imprisoned by the regime in Baku.”
The bare minimum we can do…
Any one of us could have been in the place of the Armenian captives. By condemning them, Azerbaijan condemns the Armenian people. It condemns the generation that embraced freedom and came to the defense of Artsakh, fighting for the right for self-determination of the historically Armenian territory.
The bare minimum we can do for our captive brothers is empathizing and aching with them. Compassion is already a form of perseverance.
It is difficult to live restfully, it is difficult, as some would say, “to live life to the fullest” when people of your kind are unjustly punished, languished and tortured in Azerbaijani prisons simply for being Armenian.
“Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you,” Jesus is quoted in the Gospel of Matthew.
Our hostages are living examples of perseverance, hope, goodness and steadfastness in principles.
Arsen AIVAZIAN
Postscript
For the sixth year, my wish for New Year remains unchanged. I want our compatriots illegally detained in Azerbaijan to return home. With no intention to cast blame, I cannot cope with the large-scale celebrations and sounds of horns when wedding motorcades pass by. Even when I myself live a happy moment, I suddenly recall our prisoners and feel uneasy since what can I do but write and speak? This pains me deeply. I hold my breath with unwavering hope, eagerly awaiting the day when I will cover their release and return, which, without a doubt, will be a national jollity.
