The Gardman-Shirvan-Nakhijevan Pan-Armenian Union responded to the fact that the USA included Azerbaijan in the Religious Freedom Special Watch List.

“US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that Azerbaijan was included in the Religious Freedom Special Watch List. This decision was made on the basis of involvement in or toleration of serious violations of religious freedom after the establishment of Azerbaijani control over the entire territory of Nagorno Karabakh and the implementation of ethnic cleansing.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which has previously spoken about the threat to Armenian cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh, now warns that there are serious concerns regarding the regulation of religious activities in Azerbaijan.

Such a record by the Commission on International Religious Freedom, which is a component of the international community and arbitration, is an extremely important step in terms of highlighting the crimes committed against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and providing an adequate assessment.

The Gardman-Shirvan-Nakhijevan Pan-Armenian Union welcomes the efforts that the United States is making to ensure human rights and freedoms. We have repeatedly raised the alarm about the systematic vandalism based on religious and ethnic discrimination and complete brutality that is currently being carried out in Nagorno-Karabakh and has been carried out in historical Gardman, Shirvan and Nakhijevan over the past decades.

We, being committed to the protection of the violated rights of the historical Gardman, Shirvan, Nakhijevan, as well as the displaced Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh, call on both the Commission on International Religious Freedom and other international arbitration structures and organizations to pursue the actions implemented by Azerbaijan in Nagorno Karabakh, as well as the fair investigation, condemnation and appropriate punishment of the genocide carried out in depopulated Gardman, Shirvan and Nakhijevan over the past 35 years.

The Gardman-Shirvan-Nakhijevan Pan-Armenian Union is full of hope that thanks to the coordinated efforts of both the US and other international actors, it will be possible to neutralize the threat to the world-valued Armenian Christian cultural heritage, which will greatly contribute to the transition process of democratization and pacification of our region,” the statement reads.