Conference in France’s Parliament Calls Attention to Ethnic Cleansing in Artsakh

The National Assembly hosted a conference two years after the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, which saw the forced displacement of its entire Armenian population as a result of an aggressive military attack by Azerbaijan in September 2023.

The conference, which was held on September 18, was an initiative by the Vice-President of the parliament’s France-Armenia Friendship Group, lawmaker Emmanuel Mandon.

The event was attended by lawmakers from France, Switzerland, and Belgium, as well as Members of the European Parliament. They were joined by diplomats, experts, university students, academicians, journalists, and high-ranking representatives of local government bodies, all of whom reaffirmed their readiness to provide practical support for the right of return of the forcibly displaced people of Artsakh.

During the first session of the conference, the participants addressed the ongoing geopolitical changes in the South Caucasus and their consequences for the Artsakh Armenians.

The participants emphasized that impunity for forced displacement threatens the foundations of international norms. To this end, it was noted that French and European lawmakers have pledged to not forget the ethnic cleansing carried out against the people of Artsakh and will continue to urge their governments to take practical steps to ensure respect for international law.

The second session was dedicated to parliamentary diplomacy. The importance of establishing contacts and cooperation between European lawmakers and their counterparts of the Republic of Artsakh was emphasized, as means to raise the right of return of Artsakh Armenias within the international arena and demand the immediate release of Armenian prisoners of war and political prisoners.

Special emphasis was also placed on an initiative by the France-Artsakh Friendship Group, which issued a call to collect signatures from French lawmakers to defend the right of return of the forcibly displaced population of Artsakh and to demand the release of Armenian prisoners of war held in Baku.

The conference ended with remarks by Hovhannes Gevorgyan, the representative of Artsakh in France.

“Politics is the powerful force that is capable of changing reality through decisive action, so I suggest that we dare to fight to ensure the victory of justice over violence,” Gevorgyan said in his message.