Portraits of 19 Armenian Captives in Baku Go on Display in Paris
An exhibition dedicated to the 19 Armenian political prisoners being held captive in Azerbaijan opened in the heart of Paris on Monday. The initiative is organized by the Paris Municipality and the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF).
The aim of the event, which will run through September 4, is to remind that the violence against and forced deportation of Artsakh Armenians by Azerbaijan were accompanied by the arrests of the political leadership of Artsakh.
Today, 19 of them remain in Azerbaijani prisons. By displaying the portraits of the Armenian prisoners in front of the City Hall building, Paris wants to draw public attention to their fate. This initiative by the Paris City Hall consistently has supported Artsakh, its self-determination and its people.
Back in 2020, the Paris City Council called on the French government to recognize the independence of the Republic of Artsakh. In 2023, during the blockade of Artsakh and the intensification of Azerbaijani pressure on the Armenian population, Paris initiated humanitarian aid, and a delegation led by Mayor Anne Hidalgo personally traveled to Armenia, reaching the Hakkari Bridge to support the besieged Armenians of Artsakh. In November of the same year, the Paris City Council unanimously awarded the people of Artsakh the status of honorary citizens of Paris, reaffirming the city’s political, moral and humanitarian solidarity.
Paris’s position is fully consistent with the growing involvement of French state and local authorities.
On February 3, the French National Assembly adopted a resolution demanding the release of Armenian hostages held in Azerbaijan. In July of the same year, the Corsican Parliament adopted a resolution entitled “Support for Artsakh and the Release of Armenian Hostages Held in Azerbaijan.”
Earlier, in December 2025, the Nice Municipality also posted portraits of Armenian hostages on the facade of the city hall, demanding their immediate release. The European Parliament, which has repeatedly demanded the release of Armenians from Baku, is not immune to these processes. In its resolution of April 2, 2025, the structure demanded the release of all Armenian prisoners of war and emphasized the right of the Armenians of Artsakh to return safely, unhindered and with dignity.
“The 19 portraits exhibited in Paris today are not just faces of prisoners. They are living testimonies of the history of Artsakh, its political life and the rights of its people,” said Mourad Papazyan, co-chair of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF). The exhibition also reminds us of the right of the Armenians of Artsakh to return to their homeland. It is worth noting that back on November 17, 2023, the International Court of Justice obliged Azerbaijan to ensure the safe, unhindered and prompt return of those who were forcibly displaced from Artsakh.
That legal obligation remains on paper to this day. “As long as the Armenian captives are not free, their faces will continue to remind the world that justice cannot be replaced by oblivion, and human freedom by political agreements,” said Ara Toranyan, co-chair of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF).
