Pashinyan administration’s failure to unite international community lets Azerbaijan loose
Today, Azerbaijan has once again demonstrated its disdain for justice, human rights, and international law by staging a sham trial against the leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, former Foreign Minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian writes.
“This grotesque spectacle is the latest act in a campaign to erase the Armenian presence from a region that has been its cultural and historical heartland for centuries. It also serves as a glaring indictment of the international community’s failure to act and, perhaps most damningly, of the Armenian government’s complicity in the tragic dismantling of Nagorno-Karabakh.
This trial is not an isolated incident. It is the culmination of Azerbaijan’s deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing. Just over a year ago, Azerbaijan expelled 120,000 ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, blockading the region for nine months before launching a brutal military assault in September 2023. Since then, it has razed cultural landmarks, desecrated cemeteries, and sought to rewrite history by erasing the Armenian identity of the region.
Yet Azerbaijan does not act in a vacuum. Its aggression is enabled by the deafening silence of the international community. The major powers have been shamefully passive. Statements of “concern” are no substitute for meaningful action. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, once tasked with brokering peace, have abandoned their responsibilities, leaving Azerbaijan free to trample on international norms with impunity.
Equally culpable is Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, whose complacency has brought shame upon the Armenian nation. Pashinyan’s government has consistently failed to protect the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. His administration’s lack of preparation, refusal to engage diplomatically, and failure to mobilize the international community allowed Azerbaijan to act unchecked. While Armenian families mourn the loss of their homeland and their leaders face imprisonment, Pashinyan remains silent, his inaction a stain on Armenia’s honor and a betrayal of its commitment to its people’s survival.
The international community must wake up to the consequences of its indifference. Allowing Azerbaijan’s actions to go unchallenged sets a dangerous precedent. It signals that ethnic cleansing can be conducted with impunity, that international law can be trampled without consequence, and that justice is an empty word.
This moment also demands introspection from the Armenian people and their government. Pashinyan’s failures to act cannot be forgotten or forgiven. The Armenian nation must demand leadership that will stand firm against aggression, protect its people, and rebuild its dignity on the international stage.
The trials in Baku are not just an attack on the Armenian people; they are a test of humanity’s commitment to justice and human rights. The world must not let Azerbaijan’s sham justice prevail. It is time to stand with the Armenian people, for justice, for truth, and for the principles that bind us all as human beings,” Oskanian wrote.
