At the initiative of Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, an international conference titled “Religious Freedom: Preserving the Armenian Spiritual, Cultural, and Historical Heritage in Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh” was held in Bern, Switzerland, May 26 to 28.
The event was organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Protestant Church of Switzerland.
At the opening on May 27, the Catholicos expressed his gratitude to Rev. Dr. Jerry Pillay, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches; Rev. Rita Famos, president of the Protestant Church of Switzerland; the members of the WCC governing body; and the organizers and supporters of the conference — thanks to whose efforts, once again, the challenges faced by the Armenian people in the aftermath of the occupation of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh are being raised on the international stage.
“In the 21st century — a time that should have been marked in the life of nations and states by the triumph of peace, solidarity and justice — we are, tragically, witnessing genocidal acts and ethnic cleansing fueled by war, hatred, and enmity, as well as deplorable violations of religious freedom and fundamental human rights. Our people, too, have endured such calamities as a result of Azerbaijan’s aggression and atrocities against Artsakh, carried out with the military support of Turkey.
During the 44-day war unleashed in 2020 and the large-scale military operations of 2023, Artsakh was occupied and entirely emptied of its Armenian population. Significant and strategically vital territories along the borders of the Republic of Armenia have also been seized, and new demands continue to be imposed in the course of ongoing peace treaty negotiations.
Azerbaijan continues to hold the political leadership, civilians, and prisoners of war of Artsakh as hostages, subjecting them to show trials and fabricated charges, in gross violation of international legal norms. These unlawful acts and degrading cruelties are motivated by ethnic hatred and anti-Armenian sentiment — the same animus that underlies the assaults on Armenian spiritual and cultural heritage, and sacred historical sites,” stated the Catholicos of All Armenians.
