In a searing interview with France 24’s flagship show Tête-à-Tête, on March 11, Artak Beglaryan, President of the Artsakh Union and former State Minister and Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), voiced harsh assessments of the Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev. In response to Aliyev’s interview on the same program about a month ago, Beglaryan labeled Aliyev a “Nazi leader” whose regime is built on the systematic execution of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Speaking with journalist Marc Perelman, Beglaryan responded to Aliyev’s recent refusal to grant clemency to imprisoned Armenian leaders—whom Aliyev had compared to the “masterminds of the Holocaust”. Beglaryan dismissed these lies as “classic textbook mirror accusations,” asserting that Aliyev himself should face a modern-day Nuremberg trial for the ethnic cleansing of the 150,000 Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.
State-Orchestrated Genocide and Armenian Hostages
Beglaryan emphasized that the international community’s failure to hold the Aliyev regime accountable has emboldened a genocidal policy that persists long after the 2023 forced displacement.
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Beglaryan characterized the “sentencing” of Artsakh’s political leaders and prisoners of war to life and 20-year prison terms as a “profound failure of justice.” He noted that these hostages are being punished solely for their ethnicity and their defense of self-determination.
Citing Juan Méndez, the first UN Special Adviser on Genocide Prevention, Beglaryan argued that the targeting of political leaders is a direct manifestation of Aliyev’s ongoing genocidal intent against the Armenian nation.
Beglaryan explicitly condemned Aliyev’s rhetoric as Nazi-aligned, highlighting a judicial system ranked alongside North Korea and Syria that serves only to facilitate “collective genocidal punishment.”
Ignoring the Rights of the Artsakh People as “Political Betrayal”
The interview also addressed the August 2025 peace declaration signed in Washington by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, mediated by U.S. President Donald Trump. Beglaryan considered the deal “relatively good” and labeled it a “political betrayal” by the Armenian authorities, criticizing the absolute omission of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status and the rights and security of its people from the document.
“Aliyev is using the 19 Armenian hostages as cards to humiliate the Armenian nation,” Beglaryan stated. “Nothing in this declaration protects our people, our 400 churches or our 6,000 cultural monuments from a regime that seeks our total erasure.”
The Right to Return
Beglaryan remains a steadfast voice for the right of return and justice, insisting that a “just world order” must eventually address the mass atrocity crimes committed by the Aliyev regime. He maintains that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh must be granted the opportunity to return to their ancestral homes with international security guarantees.
“We continue our struggle regardless of geopolitical interests because genocide can never be the foundation for a lasting peace,” Beglaryan concluded.
The full video interview is available here.
Artsakh Union