Standing with the people of Nagorno-Karabakh AND Armenia.

TW: Genocide, ethnic cleansing

The Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe (CDN) and the Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG) strongly condemn the recent actions of Azerbaijan, which amounts to an ethnic cleansing of Armenians, in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. We urge the European Union and the governments of Europe to pressure Azerbaijan to stop these atrocities from taking place. It is time the West, and in particular the European Union and the governments of Europe, stops preaching of human rights and dignity whilst turning a blind eye to atrocities occurring in the region. 

We have already witnessed, as stated in 2022 in the concluding observations by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, that Azerbaijan engaged in the suppression, oppression, and violation of fundamental rights and international law against Armenians during the 2020 conflict. This includes arbitrary detention, destruction of houses and public buildings, extrajudicial killings, torture, all of which amounting to an ethnic cleansing and genocide of indigenous Armenians. 

On 19 September 2023, Azerbaijan launched military operations in the region, ultimately making a peaceful resolution of the conflict impossible, endangering the security and wellbeing of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, and putting the indigenous Armenian population at risk of genocide. Over a hundred thousand Armenians are now forced to flee the region and seek asylum.

In this, as with every conflict, the largest victims are the people, their community and livelihoods, and their environment. Europe must immediately take concrete steps to pressure Azerbaijan to end its violence and avert further military aggression. Thus, we call on the European Union and governments of Europe to immediately:

• Strongly denounce the actions of Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh and express its full support for Armenia and the people in Nagorno-Karabakh;

• Pressure Azerbaijan to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia, thus protecting the right of Armenia to its borders and its government;

• In the event of further aggression by Azerbaijan, impose sanctions on Azerbaijan, its head of state and government and military officials;

• Through the appropriate peacekeeping channels, ensure the security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. This includes expanding the EU peacekeeping mission from the Armenia-Azerbaijan border to the region as well;

• Through the appropriate humanitarian channels, provide humanitarian relief and support to ensure the wellbeing of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh;

• Based on the developments of the current agreements, pressure Azerbaijan to commit to guaranteeing the safety and security of the Armenian people in the region;

• Provide asylum and protection to any and all Armenians seeking asylum upon their arrival and to provide humanitarian and technical support especially to Armenia to be able to sufficiently provide relief to Armenian asylum seekers. 

Furthermore, Europe must reconcile its (in)action towards people of Armenian ethnic origin, their rights, their security, their wellbeing, and their persecution not just in Azerbaijan but in Europe as a whole. Europe therefore owes a responsibility towards Armenia, and in particular the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, for reparations and long-term recovery and development in the region. Thus, we call on the European Union and the governments of Europe to, in the long-term:

• Provide sustained recovery and development aid to the people of Nagorno-Karabakh;

• Affirm sustained guarantees for the security and wellbeing of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh;

• Ensure in further relations with Azerbaijan that the security and wellbeing of Armenians within its border and the respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia is a precondition;

• Further engage mutually with Armenia diplomatically, politically, and economically to foster relations between Armenia and democratic Europe. Armenia should have a chance to embark on a pro-European path.

The European Union in particular must foster positive ties with Armenia and provide long-term support towards Armenia’s alignment with the Union and its democratic values, with ambitions towards the future accession of Armenia into the Union. Europe should strive for the protection of Armenian democracy and thus also preventing the intervention of actors like Russia seeking to exploit these crises and intervene in the democratic structures of Armenia for the purposes of the Russian Federation.

Europe must live up to its principles as a stalwart for human rights protection, within the region and in the world. We cannot repeat the mistakes and gross (in)action of the past. We must act now, listening to the Armenian people, and working towards their full enjoyment of their fundamental rights, together.  

Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe (CDN) and the Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG)