Armenian Genocide

Since Azerbaijan’s aggressive war against Artsakh in 2020, considerable damage has deliberately been caused by the government of Azerbaijan against the Armenian cultural and religious heritage in Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian republic in the South Caucuses.

The same ideology that motivated the 1913-23 Armenian genocide motivates Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s aggressions against Armenians, Greeks and other Christians.

With the 2023 presidential elections looming, the Turkish government is escalating its aggression against dissident journalists, human rights defenders, and Kurdish political activists in the country.

The Byzantine emperor, crusaders and Armenian nobility were statesmen, not theologians: their geopolitical situations guided their decision-making more than theological considerations.

The Turkish government struck another hard blow against civil society and human rights advocates in the country.

The Simele Massacre, which occurred in 1933, is a largely forgotten tragedy that still awaits official recognition from both the Iraqi government and international community.

Azerbaijani servicemen tortured and killed 19 Armenian prisoners after the end of last year’s 44-day war, lawyers Artak Zeynalyan and Siranush Sahakyan announced on May 3.

While these reports are never perfect, their existence reflects how the US government is uniquely positioned to serve as a global leader in the promotion of human rights. USCIRF’s commissioners and staff deserve commendation for producing them.

Even as they engage in this ceremony for the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in Yerevan, there is a sense that this year is different because President Joe Biden formally recognized the Armenian Genocide, making him the first president to formally use the word “genocide” in connection to what happened to the Armenian community.