Marches Planned for Persecuted Armenians

Arepublic located in the South Caucasus, where Armenians have resided for thousands of years, endured ethnic cleansing from 2020 to 2023 at the hands of Azerbaijan’s government and military. The indigenous Armenians of Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, were exposed to two aggressive wars that involved indiscriminate bombings, a nine-month long starvation campaign, and forced displacement. Artsakh is currently occupied by Azerbaijan.

This upcoming January 27 and 28, Armenians and their friends across Europe will be carrying out demonstrations and other activities to highlight the ongoing persecution and threats against Armenians by the government of Azerbaijan. 

Sarineh Abrahamian, the PR and Communication Officer of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD), told The European Conservative:

There will be different activities in over 50 cities across Europe. The purpose is to raise awareness about Artsakh and express solidarity for the Artsakh Armenians that are currently deprived of their ancestral homeland.

During these events, we will urge the EU executive to impose sanctions on the political and military leadership of Azerbaijan responsible for carrying out an ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Armenian population of [the] Artsakh Republic. Furthermore, to call for the immediate release of the Armenian prisoners abducted and held captive in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, and to raise awareness about the situation in the Republic of Armenia, where the Azeri armed forces are illegally occupying Armenian sovereign territory and threatening the southern part of Armenia, the Syunik region.

Europeans for Artsakh is a newly established platform that consists of European Armenian representatives from 15 countries across the European Union, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Abrahamian noted that this platform is coordinating these activities, and Armenian churches throughout Europe are distributing information leaflets and flyers.  

Artsakh is a historically Armenian land. The first Armenian school, the Amaras Monastery, was opened in Artsakh in the 5th century. As part of the Soviet divide-and-conquer strategy in the Caucasus, Artsakh was arbitrarily carved out of Armenia in 1921 by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who placed it under Soviet Azerbaijani administration but with autonomous status for Armenians. Artsakh has never been part of independent Azerbaijan.

During seven decades of Soviet Azerbaijani rule, the Armenians of Artsakh were subjected to systematic discrimination. Meanwhile, Armenians in the Azerbaijani cities of Baku, Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Maragha were exposed to pogroms and massacres.

On September 2, 1991, the people of Artsakh finally declared independence from the Soviet Union. This was the same year Azerbaijan became independent. In response, Azerbaijan launched an all-out war, which came to be known as the First Artsakh War. They targeted civilians and recruited jihadist mercenaries from both Afghanistan and Chechnya to join the Azerbaijani army.

Azerbaijan’s second war against Artsakh was launched with the support of Turkey in September 2020. Together, they indiscriminately bombed Artsakh territory, including homes, schools, hospitals, and other non-military targets. Azerbaijan recruited jihadists from Syria. Around 5,000 Armenians were killed; many were beheaded or mutilated. Azeri soldiers filmed some of the beheadings and uploaded the videos to social media. The war lasted for 44 days and was only paused through a Russia-brokered ceasefire signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia.

Nevertheless, Azerbaijan’s aggression has not ended. In September 2022, Azeri forces attacked the Republic of Armenia, killing dozens of Armenian soldiers and seizing parts of southern Armenia. 

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan imposed an illegal blockade on Artsakh. The only road connecting Artsakh and Armenia was blocked by Azeri forces, creating a famine in Artsakh. People in Artsakh were deprived of sufficient food, medical supplies, and other essential needs for nine months. This campaign of starvation caused serious malnutrition, mental distress, diseases, miscarriages, and deaths in Artsakh. In July 2023, for instance, two children, three-year-old Leo and six-year-old Gita, whose mother left them to find food in a nearby town, were found dead in a car. In August, K. Hovhannisyan, born in 1983, died as a result of chronic malnutrition and protein and energy deficiency, according to his autopsy report.

Azerbaijan’s latest military attacks against Artsakh were committed on September 19-20, 2023. Azeri forces once again launched an indiscriminate bombing campaign against Armenians in the region. As a result, over 100,000 people from Artsakh were forcibly displaced to Armenia, leaving behind their homes and lands. 

Meanwhile, Azeri forces have violated and even destroyed Artsahk’s Armenian cultural and religious heritage, including churches and cross stones. 

Throughout the three years of the Azeri annihilationist campaign against Armenians, Azeri soldiers kidnapped both Armenian civilians and soldiers. They tortured and, in some cases, murdered those captured. The 2020 ceasefire agreement requires Azerbaijan and Armenia to release all prisoners of war (POWs). Armenia has fulfilled that requirement, but Azerbaijan has not. Following the September 2023 attack on Artsakh, Azerbaijan arrested even more Armenians, including former presidents, state ministers, and military leaders of the Republic of Artsakh. 

According to the Center for Truth and Justice,

23 Armenians are being illegally detained in Azerbaijan … However, it is suspected that many more POWs and civilian hostages are lingering in Azerbaijani prisons. Now that both wars have ended, all detainees must be freed immediately under the Geneva Conventions. However, Azerbaijan refuses to comply.

A report by the University Network for Human Rights entitled “How Three Years of Atrocities Against Ethnic Armenians Led to Ethnic Cleansing” details the types of torture that the Armenian POWs are routinely exposed to in Azeri jails:

Armenians captured by Azerbaijan during and after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, as well as in the course of fighting on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in September 2022, have been subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment while in Azerbaijani custody.

Forms of torture and mistreatment have included prolonged and repeated beatings with batons, skewers, brooms, and firearms; laceration of wrists with zip-ties; employment of electro-shock and stress positions; sleep deprivation; confiscation of warm clothing during extreme cold; deprivation of food, water, and hygiene products; and infliction of mental suffering and humiliation.

Immediately following the ceasefire, the Center for Truth and Justice collected direct testimony from prisoners of war repatriated by Azerbaijan that described how Azerbaijani forces consistently tortured and humiliated Armenian captives, including with beatings, electrocutions, tooth extractions, burns by lighters, and insults.

The first Armenian genocide in modern history occurred in 1915 in Ottoman Turkey. The second took place in Artsakh from 2020 to 2023, before the eyes of the whole world. The government of Azerbaijan is now falsely referring to the Republic of Armenia as “Western Azerbaijan” and is threatening invasion. 

According to the Europeans for Artsakh platform, the January 27-28 demonstrations across Europe have the following aims: 

• To condemn the ethnic cleansing and genocidal policies of Azerbaijan.
• To advocate for sanctions on Baku.
• To demand the immediate release of Armenian prisoners of war and hostages.
• To call for the defense of the Republic of Armenia, particularly in Syunik.
• To express solidarity with Artsakh Armenians and seek international guarantees for them to live freely and independently on their homeland, safeguarding their fundamental rights.

The story of Artsakh is one of a people’s will, sacrifice, and determination to live as an independent Armenian republic free from the violence and oppression of regional powers. Armenians across Europe and their friends will be marching to call on the international community to support the Armenians’ right to return to Artsakh and secure the immediate release of Armenians held in Azeri jails. The world should heed their call.