PROTEST APPEAL
To the Diplomatic Missions Accredited in the Republic of Armenia and International Organizations
Armenian civil society in Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), with profound astonishment and distress, notes that the blatant unlawful and barbaric policies carried out by the administration of Ilham Aliyev in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) – including the forced displacement of the indigenous population, acts of ethnic cleansing with genocidal characteristics, appropriation of their property, destruction of Armenia’s millennia-old historical heritage, and the attribution of Armenian historical and cultural monuments to others – have met not only with the tacit acquiescence of the United Nations, diplomatic representatives of OSCE participating States, and other international organizations operating in Azerbaijan, but also with what is, in practice, encouragement.
We, the undersigned civil society organizations and public figures, express our indignation at the conduct of international diplomatic representatives who visit various settlements in Artsakh, a territory subjected to occupation and ethnic cleansing, accompanied by senior officials of the Aliyev administration, while making no mention whatsoever of the fate of the inhabitants of that territory, the preservation of the spiritual and material heritage they were forced to leave behind, or the protection of their fundamental rights enshrined in international law. In practice, such conduct amounts to approval of actions by the Azerbaijani administration that are fundamentally incompatible with human rights and with the principles of resolving conflicts without the use or threat of force. In effect, they appear to have forgotten the responsibilities associated with their diplomatic mandate and the democratic values they profess, thereby inadvertently becoming complicit in these crimes.
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For Armenian society, the conduct of the three co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group is particularly incomprehensible and deeply condemnable. For more than three decades, these countries were engaged in efforts toward a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, cooperating with the other OSCE participating States. Under the Group’s mandate, they visited Artsakh on numerous occasions and held diplomatic meetings with representatives of the authorities and military leadership of the Republic of Artsakh, as well as with religious leaders. They defended the rights of the people of Artsakh, yet following Azerbaijan’s aggression against Artsakh in 2020–2023 and the complete depopulation of Artsakh in September 2023, they have ceased to defend those rights.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the struggle for the self-determination of Artsakh are being held hostage in prisons in Baku and are victims of torture and unlawful trials, which have been condemned as illegal by various international organizations.
Representatives of states that claim to uphold the primacy of democratic values do not deem it necessary even to visit them in order to monitor their trials and the conditions of their detention, yet find the time and energy to travel to Artsakh with Azerbaijani officials and listen to blatantly unscientific and cynical claims concerning Gandzasar, Dadivank, Shushi, Armenian history, and Armenian cultural heritage, without uttering even a single word about the fate of the indigenous population or the protection of human rights and democracy.
Expressing our protest and deep concern regarding the situation surrounding Artsakh, we expect this protest appeal to be considered impartially and that the necessary diplomatic steps and appropriate responses will be undertaken.
Human rights and democracy are non-negotiable values and must not be subordinated to economic, fuel and energy, geopolitical, military, or other interests.