Tuesday, October 25 2022 12:01

ArmInfo.Belows is the International Association of Genocide Scholars Executive Board (IAGS) Statement on Azerbaijani Aggression Against the Republic of Armenia  and the Indigenous Armenians of the South Caucasus. 

The statement reads: 

"The International Association of Genocide Scholars Executive Board  strongly condemns Azerbaijan's invasion of the Republic of Armenia  and the ongoing aggression against the Armenian people in the  Republic and in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and expresses concern  about the risk of genocide against the Armenian population of that  entity. 

"On 13 September 2022, Azerbaijan launched an attack on the sovereign  territory of the Republic of Armenia. Using heavy artillery as well  as multiple rocket launchers and attack drones, the Azerbaijani  forces shelled the cities and towns of Vardenis, Goris, Ishkanasar,  Kapan, Sotk, Artanish, and Jermuk and the surrounding villages in the  Republic of Armenia. This attack resulted in over 210 confirmed  deaths of Armenian soldiers and numerous civilian deaths and  injuries. While a tenuous ceasefire still holds, Azerbaijan's  violence continues, including allegations of executions of Armenian  prisoners of war. Over 7,000 civilians have been displaced, and  civilian homes and local infrastructure destroyed in an attempt to  ethnically cleanse Armenians from a large portion of the Republic of  Armenia. 

"Significant genocide risk factors exist in the Nagorno-Karabakh  situation concerning the Armenian population. Noting in particular  that this violence occurs in the context of a prior genocide against  ethnic Armenians in 1915 - 1923 by the Ottoman Empire (which became  Turkey), and the continued relationship between Turkey and  Azerbaijan. In 1920, Turkey sought to disarm the Armenians and arm  the Azerbaijanis, resulting in conflict, Armenian exodus, and  atrocities against Armenians in an Azerbaijani offensive. 

"Turkey continues to support Azerbaijan in the NagornoKarabakh  conflict (including through the provision of drones and mercenaries).  Turkish President Erdogan has referred to the Armenians as  'occupiers', despite centuries of history of Urartians and their  descendents, the Armenians, in the region. The current violence is  part of a lengthy, related process of violence by the Azerbaijani  regime against the indigenous Armenian population of the South  Caucasus. There have been several armed conflicts between "Armenia  and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory, in the  1980s-1990s, with the most recent beginning in September 2020 and  continuing into 2022, despite supposed ceasefires. The current  conflict has included the use of indiscriminate weapons, and civilian  deaths and displacement. Azerbaijani authorities have been openly  delivering hate speech against Armenians. Acts of incitement or hate  propaganda have targeted Armenians. 

"The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)  has specifically noted that the following acts are risk factors for  genocide: 'Systematic and widespread use and acceptance of speech or  propaganda promoting hatred and/or inciting violence against minority  groups, particularly in the media'; and 'Grave statements by  political leaders/prominent people that express support for  affirmation of superiority of a race or an ethnic group, dehumanize  and demonize minorities, or condone or justify violence against a  minority.' Azerbaijan's state policy includes anti-Armenian discourse  and propaganda, including through government speeches and the media. 

"For example, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has made statements  such as: 'Armenia as a country is of no value. It is actually a  colony, an outpost run from abroad, a territory artificially created  on ancient Azerbaijani lands.' Aliyev does not recognize the  internationally recognized territorial integrity of the Republic of  Armenia: 'We have perhaps a hundred times more grounds not to  recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia than they have not to  recognize our territorial integrity. Because everyone already knows  this, and so does the world community, that in November 1920 our  historical lands of Zangazur [Syunik], as well as Goycha [Sevan],  were severed from us and annexed to Armenia. The city of Yerevan was  ceded to Armenia on 29 May 1918. So, there are many factors for us,  as they say, not to recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia.'  Alyev also uses dehumanizing language, such as: 'We chased them out  of our lands like dogs. I said that we would chase them, that we  would chase them like dogs, and we chased them, we chased them like  dogs.' 

"Such statements indicate a systematic campaign to end the presence  of Armenians in their historic and present-day homeland. These and  other statements demonstrate the existence of a risk of genocide, and  may amount to incitement to genocide and possibly other international  crimes. There is also a history of cultural destruction in the  conflict, leading to a significant fear from Armenians that after the  peace deal, which saw the return of Armenian-held land to Azerbaijan,  Armenian sites will be neglected, desecrated or destroyed.  Some  Armenian monuments and churches are hundreds of years old, such as  the Saint Nishan church, Dadivank monastery complex and khatchkars in  cemeteries, dating as far back as the 9th Century and earlier. It is  common for Azerbaijan to present 'alternative' histories for Armenian  churches, claiming they are 'Caucasian Albanian' and were  'Armenianised' only in the 19th Century. 

"Such claims have all been debunked outside of Azerbaijan. Rewriting  of history and cultural destruction are key hallmarks of genocide.  The goal of g‚nocidaires is to destroy, in whole or in part, the  targeted group, and one way the perpetrators carry out this  destruction is through cultural destruction: eliminating the very  essence of the group's identity, and any trace that they existed in  that location. 

"The Executive Board notes that the International Court of Justice  (ICJ) has recognised the seriousness of the hate speech and cultural  destruction by Azerbaijan towards Armenians and Armenian culture. In  its Provisional Measures order of 7 December 2021, the ICJ considered  Armenia's claims of violations of the Convention on the Elimination  of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) plausible, and expressed  concern that such violations 'may have serious damaging effects' on  the protected group. 

"In the interim before deciding on the merits of the case, the ICJ  has ordered Azerbaijan, inter alia, to: 'take all necessary measures  to prevent the incitement and promotion of racial hatred and  discrimination, including by its officials and public institutions,  targeted at persons of Armenian national or ethnic origin; and take  all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and  discretion affecting Armenian cultural heritage, including but not  limited to churches and other places of workship, monuments,  landmarks, cemeteries and artefacts.' 

"Attacks on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia also  likely amount to a violation of the United Nations Charter, and  breach the Helsinki Final Act and the ceasefire agreement signed by  Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on 9 November 2020, ending the 44-Day  Second Karabakh War (27 September 2020 - 10 November 2020). 

"In order to remove the risk of genocide, the International  Association of Genocide Scholars Executive Board calls upon: 

" The international community and academic and cultural  organizations to condemn violence and hate speech by Azerbaijan  against Armenia and take all necessary measures to compel Azerbaijan  to cease hostilities and hate speech against the Republic of Armenia  and the indigenous Armenians of Artsakh. 

" Azerbaijan to comply with the International Court of Justice  Provisional Measures order of 7 December 2021. 

" Azerbaijan to remove its soldiers from the territory of the  Armenian Republic and to respect the right of self-determination of  the Armenians of Artsakh as guaranteed under the United Nations  Charter (Chapter I, Article 2). 

" The international community to hold the authoritarian regime of  Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accountable for the crime of  aggression (crimes against peace), war crimes and crimes against  humanity perpetrated against Armenia and Armenians since September  2020."