Council of Europe Advisory Committee calls on Azerbaijan to create conditions for safe return of Karabakh Armenians

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. According to Council of Europe experts Azerbaijan must improve the possibilities of its national minorities exercising their rights.

The Fifth Opinion on Azerbaijan of the Council of Europe Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has been published.

The body’s experts have found the conditions in Azerbaijan to be insufficient for ensuring full and effective equality of national minorities.

In its report, the advisory committee stressed that it is assessing for the first time the situation in the Karabakh region and underscored the need for immediate measures to resolve the post-conflict situation.

“During this monitoring cycle, Azerbaijan reestablished its effective control over Karabakh, as well as seven adjacent districts, which resulted in the mass displacement of more than 100 000 ethnic Armenians. In order to secure sustainable peace in the region, it will be of utmost importance to ensure all the rights contained in the Framework Convention for persons belonging to the Armenian and other minorities. The Advisory Committee assesses, for the first time, the situation in this region and addresses recommendations to the Azerbaijani authorities, with the intention of supporting them in the post-conflict reintegration and reconciliation process, including in carrying out confidence-building measures to ensure a peaceful co-existence of persons belonging to different communities,” the committee said in the report.

“There is a strong public narrative against the Republic of Armenia in the context of the Karabakh conflict, impacting directly the attitudes towards ethnic Armenians. Following an almost ten-month blockade of the Lachin corridor, the military operation of the Azerbaijani authorities in September 2023 and the sudden reopening of the corridor, more than 100 000 Armenians have left the region. Ensuring the possibility for safe return, restitution of property or compensation, protecting Armenian cultural and religious heritage, effectively guaranteeing minority rights and fostering a genuine truth and reconciliation process will be essential to lay the foundations for peaceful coexistence in the future. The current negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia aimed at normalising their relations could be seen as an opportunity to develop confidence building measures in line with the principles of the Framework Convention and to strive for a lasting peace in the region,” it added.

The advisory committee called on Azerbaijan to create conditions necessary for the safe return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians.

“The Advisory Committee urges the authorities to create the political, legal and practical conditions necessary for safe, unimpeded and sustainable return of displaced Armenians from Karabakh and to set up a dedicated mechanism to deal with property issues, with clear criteria to be defined in cooperation with all relevant actors. The authorities should refrain from and resolutely combat anti-Armenian narratives to prepare the ground for the reconciliation process."

“The Advisory Committee urges the authorities to inventory, protect and preserve all Armenian religious and cultural sites and artefacts and to investigate all allegations of vandalism, destruction and alteration of historic and cultural monuments and cemeteries used by ethnic Armenians in the region. All relevant authorities, including at the highest political level, should clearly recognise the historical contribution of ethnic Armenians to the cultural heritage of Karabakh and guarantee the protection of cultural and religious rights of ethnic Armenians from Karabakh, including those who are now in refuge abroad," it further said. 

The Advisory Committee urged the Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from and condemn firmly any manifestation of intolerance and spreading of ethnic hatred against persons belonging to the Armenian community. All such statements and actions inciting to ethnic hatred need to be fully investigated and sanctioned in accordance with the law, the committee said in the report.