European Parliament hosts conference on ‘The Rights of the Artsakh Armenians and the European Union’

A conference entitled “The Rights of the Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh Armenians and the European Union” was held in the European Parliament, which was organized and hosted by MEP Costas Mavrides (S&D Group, Cyprus) in collaboration with the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) and the Europeans for Artsakh platform.

The conference was dedicated to addressing the situation in Artsakh since the 2020 war from the perspective of international law, human rights, as well the response of the international community and the main players involved in mediation, with a focus on the role of the EU.

Costas Mavrides stated in his opening remarks that the main goal of the conference was not only to not forget the ethnic cleansing carried out by the regime of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev against the Armenians of Artsakh, but also to establish justice.

“Criminals must be punished for committing crimes against humanity, with the ultimate goal of preventing their recurrence in the future.

That is why I have been advocating for years the need to make the EU’s acceptance of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court mandatory for the third countries.

It is equally important to ensure the safe return of the Armenian population to Nagorno-Karabakh and guarantee respect for their rights by Azerbaijan. The European Parliament has always been on the side of the Armenians because we defend respect for human rights and international law, and we will intensively continue our efforts in this direction,” Mavrides said.

One of the key-note speakers of the conference, former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, stressed that what happened to the people of Artsakh is genocide.

“Blocking the Lachin Corridor meant creating conditions for the extermination of the people,” Ocampo said. He emphasized that the Council of Europe could play an important role and call the EU member states to account so that they also investigate and come to the conclusion that what happened is genocide.