Statement by H.E. Mher Margaryan, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the UN, at the ECOSOC Special Meeting

18 February, 2021

Mr. President,

We thank the Secretary-General and the keynote speakers for addressing the significance of elimination of racism, xenophobia, and discrimination in achieving the 2030 Agenda.

The global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its severe impacts have shaken the very foundation of our societies, having increased structural inequalities that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, and further intensifying racism, discrimination and related intolerance.

We note that addressing hate speech and intolerance is crucial in advancing the prevention agenda globally. Armenia welcomed the development and the launch of the United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech and stands ready to support its effective implementation at all levels. As demonstrated so many times before, promulgation of hate speech often leads to incitement to identity-based violence and represents a significant indicator of risk of atrocity crimes. Armenia has also unequivocally supported the appeal of the UN Secretary General António Guterres for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world launched at the outbreak of the pandemic.

Despite the calls for international solidarity to focus on peace and recovery, the past year has seen an unprecedented level of violence, war and human suffering. Our region is one such example, where senseless, brutal violence and destruction disrupted the decades-long efforts for peace, development and human security. It was in blatant disregard to the Secretary-General’s appeal and in violation of the ceasefire agreement of 1994 that Azerbaijan chose to launch a pre-planned aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh in the midst of the global health crisis, with the involvement of terrorists and mercenaries and with multiple instances of war crimes, atrocities, torture and extrajudicial killings of civilian hostages and prisoners of war, as well as desecration and destruction of the Armenian Christian heritage. This reckless violence unleashed against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2020 represents an obvious culmination of the decades-long policy of nurturing identity-based hatred condoned and encouraged by the highest state authorities of Azerbaijan, who, for many years, have shown remarkable consistency in promoting Armenophobia and glorification of anti-Armenian hate crimes.

Mr. President,

It would be an illusion to expect that the elimination of racism and xenophobia is possible in a country like Azerbaijan, where violations of fundamental human rights, lack of accountable institutions, systemic corruption and instigation of violence and hatred have become part of the usual course of things, as extensively reported by independent experts and international organizations.

When the representative of Azerbaijan referred during today’s debate to the fictional number of “30,000 Armenians living peacefully in Azerbaijan” and the “preservation of the Armenian church” in Baku, they conveniently forget that, according to their own census, the number of Armenians in current Azerbaijan is only a few hundreds; that the authorities have removed the cross and the dome of the church and turned it into an administrative building a long time ago.

Indeed, it is nothing short of cynicism that a country that tries to portrays itself as “model” of tolerance and multiculturalism, has been, in fact, systematically annihilating every trace of the civilizational presence of Armenians in the territories currently under its control.

In doing so, Azerbaijan is employing the so-called “thesis of Caucasian Albanization" of the Armenian cultural and religious heritage, despite the fact that such bizarre revisionist claims which seek to justify misappropriation and distortion of the identity of the Armenian churches have long been dismissed by the reputable international scholarship. The rejection of an independent mission of experts of the UNESCO to draw an inventory of cultural properties is yet another example of the policy that aims to reject everything Armenian, contrary to science, history, common sense and basic human decency. These, along with the other manifestations of racism, bigotry and hate, combined with invention of distorted narratives as means of erasing every trace of the presence of the people in their ancient homeland further deepen the dividing lines and must be properly addressed by the international community.

MFA RA
official website

Dual citizenship

Electronic visa

Visa applications