By Zhanna Avagyan
A Swiss parliamentary committee supporting the right of return for forcibly displaced Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh held its inaugural session in Bern on May 26, reaffirming Switzerland’s commitment to organize a neutral platform for dialogue between representatives of Azerbaijan and the Karabakh Armenians.
The 19-member inter-party committee was created following a binding resolution adopted by both chambers of the Swiss Parliament earlier this year. The motion mandates the Federal Council to facilitate international dialogue mechanisms under the “Swiss Peace Initiative,” which aims to address conditions for the safe and dignified return of Karabakh Armenians.
Former Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, who now coordinates the Committee for the Protection of the Fundamental Rights of the People of Artsakh, addressed the session. “This is not a political demand. It is a human one—rooted in international law, lived trauma, and moral clarity,” Oskanian said in his remarks.
The Swiss motion, adopted by the National Council and the Council of States in March, is the first such decision by both chambers relating to Armenian issues and carries legal force. It calls for a forum to be created with international oversight to enable dialogue between the two parties on return conditions.
The initiative builds on growing international support for the right of return. On November 17, 2023, the International Court of Justice ruled that Azerbaijan must ensure the “safe, unhindered, and expeditious return” of those who fled Nagorno-Karabakh after Baku’s military offensive that September. The European Parliament echoed this position in two resolutions passed in 2024.
Oskanian described the forum not as a mechanism to legitimize either side but as a space “where silenced voices can be heard” and where both Karabakh Armenians and Azerbaijanis can sit together and find a way forward—a way home.”
The parliamentary group is co-chaired by National Council members Erich Vontobel and Stefan Müller-Altermatt. Also speaking at the event were Caroline Cox Rehabilitation Center director Vardan Tadevosyan, Swiss-Armenian MP Sargis Shahinyan, and Joel Veldkamp of Christian Solidarity International.
“The people and leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh are very pragmatic,” Oskanian noted. “Their aim is to return to their ancestral land—collectively, safely, and with their fundamental rights protected by credible international guarantees.”
He added that Switzerland’s “longstanding reputation for neutrality, discretion, and empathy” uniquely positions it to host such a forum.
The Swiss initiative comes amid what rights advocates call a systematic campaign by Azerbaijan to erase Armenian cultural heritage in the region, and as former Karabakh leaders remain imprisoned in Baku.
“International law is unequivocal: people cannot be returned to conditions of danger, fear, or discrimination,” Oskanian said.Read the article in Armenian.
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