Freedom House’s misguided report on Karabakh A dissection of bias and historical ignorance

Armenian media, brimming with unrestrained enthusiasm, report that the international human rights organization Freedom House has unveiled a fact-finding report entitled "Why are there no Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh?" It is difficult to conceive of a question more absurdly simplistic. The answer is self-evident to anyone familiar with the conflict’s recent history. However, Freedom House’s interest is not in uncovering the truth but rather in perpetuating the established practice of demonizing those identified as adversaries by Washington’s elite. At this point, it is important to remind ourselves of a few key facts.

For instance, it is crucial to acknowledge that Freedom House’s budget is funded by the US government to the extent of nearly 80 per cent. Consequently, this NGO has always been, and will continue to be, an "attack dog" for the United States government, which has for decades employed the rhetoric of "human rights advocacy" as a means of exerting political pressure on various states around the world. In this framework, Freedom House disparages those whom it is instructed to target by the White House. This approach is as old as it is simplistic.

In reality, this pattern is not new in relation to Azerbaijan. Just this past April, Armenian media reported with equal enthusiasm on Freedom House’s previous report. The authors of that report cynically, immorally, and deceitfully sought to equate Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine with the “military conquest and ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh.” This deceitful comparison is worth recalling now, as we witness attempts by representatives of the official Yerevan government to portray Armenia as a victim akin to Ukraine.

Indeed, let us remember the egregious statement made by Armenian National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan during his visit to Latvia. He claimed that “what is happening in our region is the same story as in Ukraine.” The reasons for this increasing rhetoric from official Yerevan are clear. Armenia is seeking to secure support from Western countries. However, Simonyan’s remarks bear a striking resemblance to the assertions found in the previous Freedom House report.

Moreover, the current report is also replete with falsehoods. It is not just the title of the report that is misleading. Its content reveals a tacit acknowledgment of collaboration with the Armenian side in vilifying Azerbaijan. Both official Yerevan and Freedom House are eager to propagate the false narrative of “Azerbaijan’s military aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023.” This assertion is a blatant lie and an audacious display of falsehood, which notably contradicts the official position of the United States, which recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Furthermore, this stance by Freedom House is at odds with the position of the Armenian government itself. Armenia, through the statements of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, has repeatedly affirmed its recognition of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, including the Karabakh region. Armenia does not even acknowledge the existence of “Nagorno-Karabakh” as a distinct entity! Yet the authors of the Freedom House report have chosen to present themselves as more Armenian than Nikol Pashinyan himself.

Consequently, the report from this ostensibly human rights-focused organization fails to mention that official Baku has repeatedly offered the Armenian residents of the Karabakh region the opportunity to remain and acquire Azerbaijani citizenship.

The report also fails to mention that the departure of Armenians from Karabakh was organized under highly comfortable conditions. This stands in stark contrast to the brutal expulsions of Azerbaijanis from their homes by Armenian militants during the First Karabakh War, who, under the threat of automatic weapons, gave Azerbaijanis mere hours to gather their belongings.

Yet, Freedom House has chosen to ignore this historical fact. Furthermore, the report overlooks the reality that Armenian militants in Karabakh were financed and armed by the official authorities of Yerevan. The scale of this support was so extensive that caches of weapons belonging to Armenian militants continue to be discovered in Karabakh almost daily. But Freedom House remains silent on this as well, opting instead to perpetuate a false and distorted portrayal of the causes and consequences of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. As a result, the report makes no mention of the Azerbaijanis who were subjected to ethnic cleansing by Armenia.

In this context, it is relevant to recall what Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated during a meeting with Canada’s new ambassador to Azerbaijan, Kevin Hamilton. In response to the Canadian ambassador’s comment about the Armenians’ right to return to Karabakh, President Aliyev stated that the right of return should be mutually ensured, including for the representatives of the Western Azerbaijan Community.

In this regard, the president noted that in various stages of the last century, the most recent being in 1988, the indigenous Azerbaijani population was subjected to ethnic cleansing from the current territory of Armenia, and their material and cultural heritage was completely destroyed.

This is the truth that various so-called human rights organizations, operating under directives from their patrons, steadfastly refuse to acknowledge. In this respect, Freedom House is neither the first nor the last in this list. However, their issue is that Baku remains indifferent to such biased and deceptive reports.

Azerbaijan has fully restored its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and is now in the process of reconstructing the region, transforming it into a true pearl not only of Azerbaijan but of the entire South Caucasus. The efforts of those who seek to tarnish Azerbaijan’s great victory are no longer our concern, but rather the ongoing costs borne by those who commission this "monkey work."