Former Armenian FM To Speak At CSI Side Event At UN Human Rights Council

(MENAFN- EIN Presswire)

Vartan Oskanian will support right of return of Armenians to Nagorno Karabakh after last year's ethnic cleansing

As long as there is no justice for these victims of the latest phase of the Armenian Genocide process, the threat of future violence will always hang over the people of the South Caucasus.” - John Eibner, international president of CSIZURICH, SWITZERLAND, July 1, 2024 /EINPresswire / -- Vartan Oskanian, the former foreign Minister of Armenia, will appear at a side event at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on July 9, to advocate for the right of return of Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh, as part of building a sustainable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Last September, the dictatorship of Azerbaijan launched an unprovoked attack on the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh, following a nine-month long siege of its civilian population. The attack killed hundreds and drove the entire Armenian Christian population – over 100,000 people – out of their homeland, destroying the millennia-old Armenian community there.

The expulsion was widely described as an act of ethnic cleansing or even genocide. Under international human rights law, people who flee their homes to escape war or violence have a right to return to them in safety.

Vartan Oskanian was Armenia's foreign minister between 1998 and 2008, making him the longest-serving foreign minister of Armenia since independence. After last year's ethnic cleansing, the parliament of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (or Artsakh) chose Oskanian to lead the Committee for the Defense of the Fundamental Rights of the People of Artsakh – first and foremost, the right of return.

The United States and its European allies have been seeking a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which went to war over Nagorno Karabakh after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Senior American and western diplomats have expressed the belief that the destruction of Nagorno Karabakh has, in the words of former American ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza,“removed the last obstacle to the peace treaty.”

But in the months since the fall of Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan has repeatedly attacked villages and military posts in the Republic of Armenia proper, and threatened further military action against Armenia. Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliyev calls the Republic of Armenia“Western Azerbaijan,” claiming that it is“our historic land.” Azerbaijan also continues to hold dozens of Armenians, including current and former members of Nagorno Karabakh's elected government, as hostages.

“As long as there is no justice for these victims of the latest phase of the Armenian Genocide process, the threat of future violence will always hang over the people of the South Caucasus,” commented John Eibner, CSI's International President.“CSI is pleased to host Mr. Oskanian and his delegation at the UN to advocate for the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh, who are determined to return to their homeland in spite of all they have suffered.”

Oskanian will be accompanied by a delegation of prominent Armenian advocates for Nagorno Karabakh, including Armine Aleksanyan, the former deputy foreign minister of Nagorno Karabakh, Gegham Stepanyan, the human rights ombudsman for the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh, and Karnig Kerkonian, a human rights lawyer.

The event will be held in Room XXV at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, on the sidelines of the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council. It will also be livestreamed at CSI's YouTube page.

Joel Veldkamp
Christian Solidarity International
+41 44 982 33 10
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