Advisory Committee on the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has urgedAzerbaijan to create conditions necessary for safe, unimpeded and sustainable return of forcibly displaced Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh to their homes.

“In this opinion, the Advisory Committee assesses, for the first time, the situation in the Karabakh region. During this monitoring cycle, Azerbaijan reestablished its effective control over Karabakh, as well as seven adjacent districts. At the same time, following an almost ten-month blockade of the Lachin corridor, the military operation of the Azerbaijani authorities in September 2023 and the sudden reopening of the corridor, more than 100,000 Armenians have also left the region,” Council of Europe experts said in a statement on Monday, November 18.

“As a recommendation for immediate action, the Advisory Committee urges the authorities to create the political, legal and practical conditions necessary for safe, unimpeded and sustainable return of displaced Armenians from Karabakh and to set up a dedicated mechanism to deal with property issues. The authorities are also urged to inventory, protect and preserve all Armenian religious and cultural sites and artefacts and to investigate all allegations of vandalism, destruction and alteration of historic and cultural monuments and cemeteries used by ethnic Armenians in the region.

“Finally, citing a strong public narrative against the Republic of Armenia in the context of the Karabakh conflict and its direct impact on the attitudes towards ethnic Armenians, the Advisory Committee urges the authorities to refrain from and condemn firmly any manifestation of intolerance and spreading of ethnic hatred against persons belonging to the Armenian community, in order to facilitate the reconciliation process.”