The National Assembly of Artsakh has addressed the participants of the upcoming European Union High-Level Representatives Forum in Yerevan.

Based on the fundamental principles of international law, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the norms of international humanitarian law, the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh—as the representative body endowed with the primary mandate of the people of Artsakh—directs this message to the participants of the Yerevan forum and the international community.

The military aggression carried out by Azerbaijan in 2020 and 2023, accompanied by clear manifestations of genocidal acts, led to the forced displacement of around 150,000 Armenians from their historical homeland. It is also a fact that the inadequate response from international actors and geopolitical centers created favorable conditions for the use of force and new crimes against humanity.

Currently, taking advantage of the international community's silence, Azerbaijan is consistently implementing a cultural genocide. In the occupied territories of Artsakh, Armenian Christian cultural heritage—churches, khachkars (cross-stones), cemeteries, and structures symbolizing statehood—are being systematically destroyed or appropriated. This aim is to erase the millennia-old Armenian civilizational footprint from the region.

Given the current crisis and remaining faithful to the principles of justice and human rights protection, the National Assembly of Artsakh demands:

  1. Targeted international assessments of the genocidal policies and cultural vandalism carried out by Azerbaijan, recognizing them as gross violations of international law.

  2. Effective mechanisms and sanctions against Azerbaijan to prevent further destruction of Armenian historical and cultural values.

  3. Immediate deployment of an independent international monitoring mission to Artsakh to document the condition of cultural monuments and guarantee their preservation.

  4. Political pressure on Baku to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of war and hostages illegally detained in Azerbaijan, including the representatives of the military-political leadership of Artsakh.

  5. A collective, safe, and dignified return of the people of Artsakh to their homes under international legal and security guarantees, ensuring their inalienable right to self-determination and the right to manage their own destiny.

Silence is complicity. We expect the European Union and civilized nations to act not through declarative statements, but through practical steps in the name of justice and regional stability.