The Armenia-based IDeA Foundation [Initiatives for Development of Armenia] founded in 2014 by Ruben Vardanyan and his wife, Veronika Zonabend. The foundation operates over 100 large and small projects, most long-term, and almost all supported by a consortium of donors.
Vardanyan, who moved to Stepanakert, the capital of Artsakh / Karabakh in 2020, and held various official and non-official posts during and between the military assaults by Azerbaijan, was imprisoned in September 2023, together with other political leaders.
Vardanyan marked his 57th birthday behind bars in Baku on May 25. On that occasion, the IDeA Foundation released a video celebrating Vardanyan, his birthday, and his vision for Armenia and Armenians, and the continuing responsibility and commitment of the IDeA Foundation to continue his work.
After the one-day aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19-20, 2023, and the subsequent ethnic cleansing of the region’s entire Armenian population, Azerbaijan took its former military-political leadership hostage. Among them are three former presidents—Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, and Arayik Harutyunyan—Speaker of the National Assembly Davit Ishkhanyan, former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, former commander of the Artsakh Defense Army Levon Mnatsakanyan, Deputy Commander of the Defense Army Davit Manukyan, and former Foreign Minister Davit Babayan. Baku officially acknowledges the existence of 23 Armenian hostages, some dating back to the 2020 war launched by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has pressed fabricated charges against these individuals, with some indictments carrying the threat of life imprisonment. The trials are being held behind closed doors, in blatant violation of human rights. The Armenian hostages are also being denied the right to adequate legal defense.
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