Statement by Armenia's Deputy Permanent Representative Davit Knyazyan at the UNGA77 Sixth Committee on the Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism

04 October, 2022

Mr. Chair,

I would like to congratulate you and the members of the Bureau on assuming the leadership of the Sixth Committee. You can count on Armenia’s full support in steering the work of the Committee.

We thank the United Nations Secretary-General for his report outlining the measures taken at the national and international level to prevent and fight international terrorism. Armenia contributed to the report by submitting the relevant information on the national efforts to eliminate international terrorism in line with its international obligations, including in the context of the challenges stemming from relocation of foreign terrorist fighters to the region of South Caucasus and the war crimes committed against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The economic consequences of the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, rise of poverty, deepening of inequalities, hate speech, xenophobia and polarization have created fertile ground for recruitment of terrorists. This is particularly relevant for those societies, who for decades have been subject to state propaganda of hatred on ethnic and religious grounds and where hate crime perpetrators have been glorified as role models for the young people. This dangerous indoctrination is an early warning sign of the threat of racially or ethnically motivated terrorism and vulnerability of religious and ethnic groups and their heritage. Another alarming trend is misuse of social networks and information and communication technologies for propagating radical ideology and recruitment purposes.

Preventing and countering terrorism requires a comprehensive and cross-dimensional approach and entails such aspects as border control and management, countering financing of terrorism, addressing intolerance, radicalization and hate crimes and ensuring protection of human rights while countering terrorism. Terrorism cannot be associated with any particular religion, nationality or ethnic group, however we have to acknowledge that too often terrorists have exploited religious solidarity to commit crimes against humanity and atrocities targeting religious and ethnic groups.

Mr. Chair,

In our region we continue to face the consequences of the large-scale aggression of Azerbaijan against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh launched in September-November 2020 amidst the global pandemic. The Government of Azerbaijan and its external supporters recruited and relocated thousands of foreign terrorist fighters to Azerbaijan and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone in violation of a number of UN Security Council resolutions. The foreign terrorist fighters incorporated in the ranks of the Azerbaijani armed forces committed numerous and gross violations of the international humanitarian law and international human rights law, such as extrajudicial killings, ISIL-style torture and executions of prisoners of war and civilian hostages. Ages-old religious and cultural heritage of the Christian Armenian civilization in Nagorno-Karabakh was razed to the ground.

Employment of foreign terrorist fighters in the hostilities against the peaceful population of Nagorno-Karabakh created a new reality in the South Caucasus, by turning Azerbaijan a “safe harbour” for international terrorism. The foreign terrorist fighters found a breeding ground for committing their heinous crimes in the conditions of state-led policy of radicalization of the society, in particular youth and instigating hatred and violence against Armenians.

As Azerbaijan seeks to further expand the geography of hostilities by unleashing acts of aggression against the sovereign territory of Armenia, it can further instrumentalize the FTFs to advance its expansionist goals. We attach importance to timely identification of the warning signs of spread of the terrorist network in the region by the UN anti-terrorist bodies.

Mr. Chair,

The Government of Armenia is committed to supporting the global efforts aimed at elimination of international terrorism, violent extremism and radicalization. In this regard we have undertaken a number of practical measures to prevent free movement of terrorists, combat transnational organized crime, money-laundering and terrorism financing, in support of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and other counter-terrorism obligations.

In the context of prevention of violent extremism and radicalization we attach high importance to protection of religious and ethnic groups, prevention of identity-based violence and countering hate speech. Armenia supports strengthening of the capacities of the UN to prevent and respond to the rise of racism, xenophobia, justification of past crimes, which may lead to violence and atrocity crimes on ethnic and religious grounds, including by terrorist groups.

Armenia attaches particular importance to stronger cooperation and coordination with the Counter-Terrorism Committee, its Executive Directorate, Office of Counter-Terrorism and other relevant bodies of the UN anti-terrorist architecture in identifying the new trends in activities of terrorist organizations in our region and strengthening national capacities to respond to the evolving threats of terrorism and radicalization.

We recognize and support the important role of Security Council sanctions committees, in ensuring accountability for terrorist entities and individuals, assessment of the evolving global terrorism threat in different regions and monitoring compliance of the member states with the sanction regimes.

At the regional level Armenia is actively engaged in activities aimed at implementation of the counter-terrorism conventions and their additional protocols, as well as the relevant resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council. We highly value the cooperation in the framework of regional organizations such as the Organization of Security and Cooperation of Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in facilitating exchange of experience and best practices and promoting capacity building in tackling terrorism, transnational organized crime, drug trafficking and countering radicalization, xenophobia and hate speech on ethnic and religious grounds.

Since there is no any country immune to the scourge of terrorism, the solidarity and cooperation of the international community is crucial to prevent and counter terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Armenia is committed to further contribute to the international efforts to that end.

Thank you.

MFA RA
official website

Dual citizenship

Electronic visa

Visa applications