What about the 500.000 that you made leave their homes, as their blood didn’t match yours? Ruzanna Avagimyan

Today, on June 3, during the OSCE ODIHR Human Dimension Meeting held in Vienna, legal expert and attorney Ruzanna Avagimyan from the “Union of Informed Citizens” NGO delivered a speech addressing the institutionalized hatred, isolation, and hostility towards Armenians in Azerbaijan.

In her remarks, Ruzanna Avagimyan emphasized that the Armenophobia cultivated by Aliyev in Azerbaijan has led to horrific practices among Azerbaijani militants.

The full text of Ruzanna Avagimyan’s speech, along with its Armenian translation, is provided below.

“Dear Mr Moderator, Distinguished Participants,

I wish to address the serious challenges to inclusion and dialogue in Caucasus, institutionalized hatred, exclusion and animosity against Armenians in Azerbaijan and their direct results on our lives. Ilham Aliyev’s decades-long dictatorship has relentlessly and openly spread hatred and xenophobia at the national level, intentionally feeding its citizens Armenophobic content through various means, including even kindergarten programs, television, social media, making no distinction between the Armenian state and the people of Armenian origin.

President Aliyev has successfully embedded Armenophobia into Azerbaijani national identity. This has led to horrific practices among Azerbaijani militants: the ears and other body parts of the enemy, including non-combatants, are considered trophies and are widely severed, often prior to death, as a form of torture. This was prevalent during all conflicts against both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh in recent years, with torture and murders often filmed and proudly posted on social media.

Aliyev announced an amnesty for everyone who participated in the war against Nagorno-Karabakh, which means that even hypothetical possibilities do not exist anymore for accountability on the crimes identified by the OHCHR and Special procedures. 

As President Aliyev himself stated: “The young generation was brought up in the spirit of patriotism, hatred for the enemy… And the overwhelming majority of those who died in the Second Karabakh War were representatives of the young generation.”

You called this taking back what was illegally taken from you? Then let me call the things by their names: war of aggression, war crimes, including extrajudicial killings, genocidal policy, including blocking Lachin corridor to make people starve and die, systemic hate-speech and discrimination, mutilation, torture, desecration of bodies of POWs, women, elderly and others. 

Here you propose peace and prosperity? What about the 500.000 that you made leave their homes, as their blood didn’t match yours?

To conclude: for our shared future, we must ensure the emerging generation is not condemned to another cycle of militancy, but instead inherits a future where peace and genuine reconciliation can begin. However, this prospect remains distant given the deeply ingrained hatred and constant glorification of violence against Armenians by Aliyev’s regime, and “the lasting peace, inclusion, harmony and prosperity with our neighbours” are just beautiful words, but the action is supreme. 

You are all welcome to our side-event to discuss these issues in more detail today, immediately after this session, at 1:15, in Room 531.

I thank you for the possibility to speak“.