Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno Karabakh to launch in Bern to support right of return of Armenians
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On May 26, a cross-party committee of 19 parliamentarians in support of the Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno Karabakh will be launched in Bern, the capital of Switzerland.
The Swiss Peace Initiative is based on Motion 24.4259, passed by the Swiss Parliament, which instructs the Federal Council to "organize an international peace forum on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in order to facilitate an open dialogue between Azerbaijan and representatives of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and to negotiate the safe return of the historically resident Armenian population."
The committee, which has broad cross-party support, is led by National Councillor Erich Vontobel (EDU, Zurich) and National Councillor Stefan Müller-Altermatt (The Center Party, Solothurn).
The event will feature presentations from Vontobel and Müller-Altermatt, as well as Vartan Oskanian, the former foreign minister of Armenia and current Chairman of the Committee for the Defense of the Fundamental Rights of the People of Nagorno Karabakh, Vardan Tadevosyan, the Director of the Lady Cox Rehabilitation Centre (formerly in Nagorno Karabakh), Sarkis Shahinian, the Gen. Sec. of the Parliamentary Friendship Group Switzerland-Armenia, and Dr. Joel Veldkamp, Christian Solidarity International’s (CSI) Director for Public Advocacy.
The CSI has welcomed formation of the committee.