Vartan Oskanian delivering his remarke<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nI also want to thank members who joined the Committee and are committed to implementing the Motion. My thanks also extend to all those outside Parliament\u2014our Swiss-Armenian compatriots, and non-Armenians as well, who worked with their elected representatives to make this possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And last, but by no means least, I am deeply grateful to the Christian Solidarity International (CSI), for their steadfast support of the Nagorno-Karabakh cause and for organizing this important gathering today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before I turn to the main topic\u2014the Swiss Peace Initiative and the right of return\u2014I feel compelled to make one clear and essential statement. It matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 150,000 Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, who were forcibly displaced from their millennia-old homeland over a year ago under the threat of war, ethnic cleansing, and genocide, were removed from a land that has never historically belonged to an independent Azerbaijani state\u2014not during the 1918\u20131920 period when Armenia and Azerbaijan were both independent states, nor after the collapse of the Soviet Union. At that time, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh held a legal referendum\u2014under the Soviet constitution\u2014and chose to secede from the Azerbaijani SSR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The only period during which Nagorno-Karabakh was under Azerbaijani control was during Soviet rule, and even then, it held autonomous status. Ironically, Azerbaijan\u2019s own constitution declares Soviet rule illegitimate, while simultaneously treating Soviet-imposed borders as sacrosanct. That contradiction lies at the heart of today\u2019s conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I raise this not to dwell on the past, but to clarify that our demands are neither imaginary nor unreasonable. They are grounded in history, legality, and justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having said this, let me also emphasize that the people and leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh are very pragmatic. They acknowledge the evolving bilateral dynamics between Baku and Yerevan. Their aim is not to challenge geopolitical realities. They aim to return to their ancestral land\u2014collectively, safely, and with their fundamental rights protected by credible international guarantees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is not a political demand. It is a human one\u2014rooted in international law, lived trauma, and moral clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Furthermore, their repatriation under international protection could become a cornerstone for a just and lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan\u2014especially given the profound absence of trust between the two sides. Peace in the region will remain out of reach as long as these people remain uprooted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On November 17, 2023, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the Republic of Azerbaijan must ensure the \u201csafe, unhindered, and expeditious return\u201d of those who left Nagorno-Karabakh after September 19, 2023, and ensure that such persons \u201care free from the use of force or intimidation that may cause them to flee.\u201d This was followed by two resolutions of the European Parliament, in March 2024 and October 2024, explicitly calling on Azerbaijan to engage with the representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh and to ensure their safe and dignified right of return. Most recently, the Swiss Parliament passed a decision mandating the Swiss Federal Council to organize a platform for talks on the right of return between representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clearly, an international consensus is emerging on the issue of the right of return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even Azerbaijan has publicly stated that Armenians can return. So the real questions become: how? when? And under what conditions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
International law is unequivocal: people cannot be returned to conditions of danger, fear, or discrimination. And that danger is not theoretical\u2014it is real and visible. Azerbaijan continues to detain former political and military leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, along with Armenian prisoners of war. These are not criminals; they were defending their right to self-determination, granted to them by international law. These are the very people with whom successive foreign ministers of Azerbaijan have sat down to negotiate the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh. These are the same people with whom the OSCE-mandated mediators have met to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict. They are now political hostages. As long as they remain imprisoned, true reconciliation is impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are also witnessing a systematic campaign to erase Armenian cultural and historical memory\u2014churches defaced, cemeteries bulldozed, monasteries stripped of their Armenian identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The task now is to ensure that any return is consistent with international law in its full scope\u2014including human rights law, humanitarian law, and the law of non-discrimination\u2014not solely the principle of territorial integrity. This is precisely what the proposed forum is meant to support: a neutral and credible space for dialogue, in which Switzerland merely offers its good offices\u2014a table\u2014so that the relevant actors can address the concrete conditions under which return might one day become feasible. This will be a Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno-Karabakh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Switzerland, with its longstanding reputation for neutrality, discretion, and empathy, is uniquely positioned to host such a forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs is hesitant to put this process in motion. We listened carefully to the two interventions by the Federal Councillor during the debate on the Motion before the votes in the National Council and the Council of States. We fully understand Switzerland\u2019s cautious and balanced approach. We know you have not recognized the former authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh. We respect your desire to avoid unintended diplomatic consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This forum is not about taking sides. It is not about granting legitimacy to one party over the other. It is about making space\u2014a neutral, principled space\u2014where silenced voices can be heard. Where both Azerbaijan and the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh can sit together and find a way forward. A way home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On May 26, 2025, in the Swiss capital Bern, an interparty commission composed of 19 parliamentarians supporting the “Swiss Peace Initiative” launched its work. The commission aims to assist in the implementation of the Swiss Parliament\u2019s decision to activate the necessary international mechanisms for realizing the right of return of the Armenians of Artsakh\u2014 a […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,45,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-en","category-news-en","category-home_slide"],"acf":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsakhforum.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsakhforum.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsakhforum.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsakhforum.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsakhforum.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3120"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/artsakhforum.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3127,"href":"https:\/\/artsakhforum.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3120\/revisions\/3127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsakhforum.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsakhforum.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsakhforum.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsakhforum.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/artsakhforum.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526-SwissPeaceInitiativeLaunched-2-1024x576.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/artsakhforum.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526-SwissPeaceInitiativeLaunched-1-1024x768.jpg\")