In a letter addressed to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Archbishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, Primate of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, called for urgent action to address the ongoing crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh. The letter, sent ahead of the 29th session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which is scheduled to take place in Baku from November 11-22, 2024, highlights the atrocities faced by the Armenian population in the region and urges the international community to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its actions.
Archbishop Abrahamyan’s letter recounts the events that took place exactly one year ago, when Azerbaijan’s armed forces launched an attack on Nagorno-Karabakh, displacing 120,000 ethnic Armenians from their ancestral homeland. The Archbishop described these actions as a “crime against humanity” and cited the International Association of Genocide Scholars, which recognized the characteristics of genocide in Azerbaijan’s actions. Despite some statements from international organizations and political leaders, the Archbishop emphasized that no concrete steps have been taken to stop Azerbaijan’s “genocidal policy” and ethnic cleansing of Artsakh.
The Archbishop further urged the UN and world leaders attending COP29 to pressure Azerbaijan’s government into upholding international law, protecting human rights, and ensuring the right of Artsakh Armenians to return to their homeland. He condemned Azerbaijan’s destruction of Armenian cultural heritage, as well as the continued detention and mistreatment of Armenian prisoners of war. According to Archbishop Abrahamyan, without security guarantees and a commitment to justice, peace and stability in the region cannot be achieved.
