AzSAB Statement

Joint Statement

(263 independent students & 10 organizations from Europe)

and

Official Letter to the European Students’ Union regarding their Statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Dear European Students’ Union Executive Committee,

We, as Azerbaijani students in the EU and alumni in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, express our concern about your official statement regarding Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Aside from the misinformation contained in above-mentioned statement, we all know and strongly believe that European Students’ Union is a diverse, democratic and open-minded umbrella organization, aim of which is to represent and promote the educational, social, economic and cultural interests of students at the European level, at least this is the information given according to ESU’s official site and social media accounts and its statements. We are very disappointed that an organization, mission of which is to protect the rights of students, which is open to all students, regardless of political persuasion, religion, ethnic or cultural origin, sexual orientation or social standing, violates its aims and principles, its objectivity by sharing a statement that contains information without any factual basis on such a sensitive topic.

We would like to point out the misleading content in the statement. We will share some points with you which are confirmed by the whole world and international law:

Between 1988-1994 Armenia occupied 20% of the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan and ethnically cleansed approximately 800,000 Azerbaijanis from those areas. Armenia occupied not only the territory of former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), the status of which Armenia tried to dispute, but also seven additional seven adjacent districts outside NKAO (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan). In order for “executing the right for selfdetermination” of 140 thousand ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia evicted 700 thousands Azerbaijanis from their homes, and causing them to slowly perish in camps and other temporary shelters for around 30 years. Four UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874, and 884) adopted in 1993 demanded immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.These resolutions were renewed by the UN in 2008, again demanding the withdrawal of all armenian forces and reaffirming the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan was loyal to peace process for three decades that were based on Madrid Principles proposed by the Minsk Group of OSCE to settle Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The principles consisted of returning the seven districts around Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control, providing NagornoKarabakh with an interim status, returning all refugees and displaced people to their former places of residence etc. However, the peace process got into stalemate following open and unilateral rejection of Madrid Principles by current Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan who came into power in 2018. Nikol Pashinyan’s and his government’s nationalist rhetoric, militarism and populism eventually caused a new war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Davit Tonoyan, defense minister of Armenia had declared in front of the Armenian community in New York: “As the minister of defense, I announce that this [old] format, territories [in exchange] for peace, I have rephrased it. We are doing the opposite – a new war for new territories.” This threatening speech anticipated new military provocations by Armenia to seize new territories at the expense of Azerbaijan. The statement indeed followed with the military hostilities in July in northwest Tovuz region of Azerbaijan, away from Nagorno-Karabakh, at immediate border of Armenia and Azerbaijan which was peaceful for three decades. Pashinyan’s statement in August 2019 that “Nagorno-Karabakh is Armenia, and that is all.” was final blow to peace process and a rejection of the OSCE’s Madrid Principles, according to which the territories’ final status would be the product of negotiations.
After the ethnic cleansing Azerbaijanis from these territories, many historical monuments were destroyed, turned into ruins in the occupied territories. have been turned into ruins. In the letter it is mentioned, “We believe that this can give students from both countries opportunities to learn to live AZSAB.ORG [email protected] together in a democratic and multicultural society…” How can Armenia, a mono-ethnic country whose population is almost 99 percent Armenian, can judge about tolerance? Unlike Armenia, there are 30,000 Armenians living in Azerbaijan today along with hundreds of thousands of other ethnic minorities. Armenia is currently trying to turn this war into a religious issue and describe it as a Muslim-Christian conflict. The current state of demolition and desecration of mosques in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan shows the complete opposite. Despite this, the Armenian church is well-maintained and still operates in the center of our capital city, Baku. Azerbaijan has been inhabited by representatives of different religions and cultures throughout history, demonstrating a deep heritage of coexistence among different religions. You can see the attached examples to this mail.
Today’s war is going on within internationally recognized Azerbaijani borders for returning territories of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani army by using its self-defense right and fighting to restore the peace in the region. Indeed, as mentioned in the letter, it is the bloodiest war in the last decade. Azerbaijan was mentioned as an aggressor in the paper. Let’s look at the simple statistics:As a result of shelling Azerbaijani civilians outside the conflict zone (Ganja – two times, Barda, Minghachevir, Tartar, Aghdam and other densely populated cities) from the territory of Armenia with ballistic missiles 91 civilians were killed and 405 civilians were injured including 1 infant, 11 children, 27 women and the old. Any direct attack against a civilian or civilian object is not only a violation of International Humanitarian Law but also a grave breach. Direct attacks against civilians and/or civilians objects are categorised as war crimes. We have to make clear that these regions do not belong to the Nagorno-Karabakh territory and by attacking these regions, Armenia illegally expands the scope of military operations. The Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch confirmed the first banned clusters used by Armenia targeting Azerbaijani civilians. If you really care about human rights and civilians from both countries and want to keep “neutrality”, you should have mentioned war crimes against Azerbaijani civilians committed by Armenia starting from 27th September, instead of falsely accusing Azerbaijan.Please pay attention to the Statements of The Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch about the use of banned clusters by Armenia against Azerbaijani civilians.
The Statement builds on dubious allegations about the deployment of Syrian fighters in Azerbaijan, without any proof. Staged video recordings of interrogation of such mercenaries don’t stand any criticism. Instead, the Armenian political leadership made clear on numerous occasions that Armenian fighters from various countries, including from the Middle East are deployed in the conflict zone. An ethnically Armenian while being the national of a different country is clearly considered to be mercenary under international law if he takes part in a conflict on the territory of a foreign country. Can ESU provide us with any official and reliable sources as a proof of these claims against Azerbaijan?
Turkey does support Azerbaijan politically but so does Israel, Georgia, Ukraine, etc. However, claiming Turkey’s military support has no grounds because those who have such claims have not presented any evidence to support this claim. It is a shame to even add some fake news shared by Armenia government in your official letter. This goes against the EU university standards where no claim should be made without a reputable reference.
Quote from the letter “Institutions and media in Azerbaijan have continued using hate speech against Armenia” – again false. Recently, two extremist nationalists have been convicted for hate speech against Armenians. Of course, we condemn hateful speech against any of our minorities. However, despite the fact that there are thousands of Azerbaijani families who lost their family members between 1988-1994 during the most brutal war committed by Armenia, the majority of the population condemn hate speech and this is not common and forbidden by the Azerbaijani government.

It is ironic when Armenia calls for peace while ethnically cleaning nearly 1 million internally displaced Azerbaijanis from their homes, turning the occupied region into ruins, and rejecting the peaceful work of 27 years led by the International groups. Azerbaijan has always been and today is supporting a peaceful solution to restore peace and its internationally recognized borders.

By issuing a statement based on absurd arguments, which is not supported by any international organization or an institute, the European Students’ Union loses its validity to speak on behalf of millions of students. The one-sided statement of this organization leaves us no other choice but to assume that it serves to the sole goal of disguising the illegal acts and war crimes committed by Armenian leadership and the military, which continues its vicious attacks against the civilian population of Azerbaijan, located far away from the conflict zone. It is worth reiterating that more than 91 Azerbaijani civilians were killed, and hundreds were wounded. Though these stats outnumber those in Armenia by far, we stress that the Azerbaijani students deplore any loss of civilians from both sides. But this is probably not in the interest of the ESU to base its statement on the real facts, but rather talk about the Armenian nonsense. When you address such a large audience, it is unacceptable for you to share misinformation with people and not realize this serious responsibility. If you want to restore the peace in the region, firstly, you have to research what international law is saying about this conflict and you need to know all facts from both countries’ sides. This is the only way to keep neutrality.

While checking European Students’ Union representatives, we found out that Gohar Hovhannisyan (Armenian) is leading the European Students’ Union. It is unfortunate if she is using her power to mislead the European Students’ community with this letter where the main points of the conflict are being hidden and claiming false information without pointing any reputable source. All Board members of this Union, including Gohar Hovhannisyan must know that when leading such an influential organization, everyone must be able to distinguish between subjective and biased opinions and work, this is what we call Professionalism.

Once again we inform that this is disrespectful not only to the students, but to the whole Azerbaijani people. We urge you to take further actions immediately in order to stop the abuse of power by Ms.Hovhannisyan, the spread of misleading information. We demand that the ESU withdraws its misleading statement and apologizes to all students of Azerbaijan for this biased approach. We also demand all organizations who seconded this statement to apologize especially before IDPs of Azerbaijan for the pain and insult caused by this statement.

We inform you that this issue will be raised before the European institutions, which act as your donors so that all those responsible for such an unlawful and derogatory statement are held accountable for this misdeed.

Proposed by: AzSAB – Azerbaijani Students & Alumni of BeNeLux.

Seconded by: ASB & AHB from Spain, MAS & BAS from the UK, SANA from Sweden, ASCE MTU from Estonia, European Law Students’ Association Alumni Society in Azerbaijan, Erasmus Student Network Alumni Society in Azerbaijan, AEGEE-European Students’ Forum Alumni Society in Azerbaijan and ASYOU.

The list of signatures of Azerbaijani Students and Alumni of Europe:

Agshin Garayev
Aisha Atamaliyeva
Ali Gadziev
Ali Hasanov
Aliabbas Shukurlu
Alish Najafzade
Alishan Karimov
Anar Alizade
Anna Kantsemal
Arslan Abdulla
Arzu Aliyeva
Asmar Abdullayeva
Asmar Bayramova
Aydan Alakbarova
Aydan Behbudova
Aydan Islamova
Aydan Sadigova
Aysel Abdulzade
Aysel Gurbanzade
Aysel Mehdiyeva
Aysha Hasanova
Ayshan Yariyeva
Aytac Hasanova
Aytaj Tamirova
Aytaj Yusifova
Aytan Hajiyeva
Aytan Mammadova
Ayten Sultanli
Aytən Novruzova
Azima Teyyubova
Bakhtiyar Garashov
Banovsha Habibova
Banovshə Ahmadova
Bayram Bakhshaliyev
Bayram Orujov
Chinara Ganbarova
Chinara Shukurova
Chingiz Mammadli
Davud Shikhmammadli
Dilafruz Yusifzada
Elchin Latifli
Eldar Mustafaoghlu
Elmikhan Mammadov
Elnara Rafizada
Elnur Hajiyev
Elnur Valikhanli
Elshan Gurbanov
Elvin Abbasli
Elvin Abdullayev
Elvin Mammadli
Elvin Mammadzada
Emin Ahmadli
Esmira Babazade
Esmira Isgenderova
Ezel Rustamova
Farahim Suleymanli
Farhad Huseynov
Farid Gasimov
Farida Mustafazade
Fatima Bayramova
Fatima Hamidova
Fatima Shukurlu
Fazila Ismayilova
Fazila Pashayeva
Fidan Adishli
Fidan Algayeva
Fidan Aslanova
Fidan Bayramova
Fidan Mammadova
Fidan Rahimli
Fidan Taghizada
Fuad Budagov
Gabriella Quliyeva
Gismat Ahadov
Gulagha Gozalov
Gulgun Farziyeva
Gulgun Mammadli
Gulkhanim Abishova
Gulnar Alizade
Gulnar Hajiyeva
Gulnar Mammadova
Gulnar Velijeva
Gulshah Babayeva
Gulshan Muslumzade
Gulsum Alihuseynova
Gultaj Ibrahimova
Gunay Bayramova
Gunel Hasanzade
Gunel Mammadova
Gunel Mirzazada
Gunel Zeynalova
Gurban Abbasov
Hafiz Valizada
Hajarnur Pashayeva
Heidar Huseynov
Hijran Musayeva
Hikmat Hasanov
Hokuma Mammadzada
Humay Khalilli
Huseyn Mashadiyev
Ibrahim Azimov
İbrahim Huseynov
Ibrahim Mammadov
Ilaha Bakhshaliyeva
Ilaha Guliyeva
Ilyas Alizada
Ismayil Aghahasanli
Ismayil Aliyev
İsmayil Mammadov
Ismayil Tahmazov
Jala Tahirova
Jalal Sadigli
Jamil Ismayilzada
Javid Abdullayev
Javid Aslanli
Jeyhun Babashov
Jeyla Samedzade
Kamala Samadova
Kamran Rahimov
Khayala Agaverdiyeva
Khoshgadam Allahverdiyeva
Lala Mustafazade
Lalazar Hamidova
Lale Sariyeva
Laman Gudratova
Lamiya Mahmudova
Leman Humbatova
Leyla Baghirli
Leyla Rahimli
Madina Hasanli
Mahbuba Jafarova
Mahir Huseyov
Majnun Abdurahmanov
Maleyka Alizade
Maryam Ismayilzada
Matin Karimov
Mikayil Isgandarov
Mirniyaz Mahmudlu
Murad Aslanli
Murad Babayev
Musa Suleymanov
Mustafa Cəbrayılov
Nahida Mamishova
Nargiz Bakhishova
Nargiz Kazimova
Nargiz Mirzayeva
Nargiz Umudova
Narmin Mammadli
Narmin Mehtiyeva
Narmina Baghirova
Narmina Karimova
Natavan Ahmadova
Natavan Ismayilzada
Natavan Zeynalova
Nazrin Gasimova
Nazrin Najafzade
Nigar Ahmadli
Nigar Mir-Babayeva
Nigar Muradkhanli
Nigar Nebiyeva
Nigar Shukurova
Nihad Guliyev
Nijat Jafarli
Nijat Mammadbayli
Novruz Mamishov
Nuray Haqverdiyeva
Nuray Haqverdiyeva
Nurjan Khalilzada
Nurlan Abdullayev
Nurlan Kerimov
Nurlan Mikayilov
Orkhan Aliyev
Orkhan Gasimov
Orkhan Rustamov
Pakiza Hajiyeva
Parviz Hajiyev
Pinar Majidova
Polad Mahmudov
Rahida Mammadli
Rahil Mammadov
Rahim Heydarov
Rahim Huseyinsoy
Ramil Namazov
Ramil Pashayev
Ramin İmamquliyev
Rashid Mechtijev
Rasul Agharzayev
Ravid Nahmatov
Ravid Taghiyev
Rima Mammadova
Rovshana Aliyeva
Rugiyya Abdullayeva
Ruhiyya Suleymanova
Rustam Asadli
Rustam Jabbarov
Sabina Ibrahimova
Sabina Kazimova
Sabina Mammadova
Sabuhi Mursalli
Sabuhi Osmanov
Sadig Eyvazov
Sakina Khanim
Sakina Mammadli
Sakina Mustafayeva
Sama Khalilova
Samir Azizov
Samir Sharifli
Samira Nazarli
Sanam Amirli
Sanan Abdullayev
Sanan Salimov
Sanan Suleymanli
Sara Mehdiyeva
Sattar Mammadov
Sevda Mirzayeva
Sevda Seferova
Sevinj Aghayeva
Sevinj Aghayeva
Sevinj Jafarli
Sevinj Mammadova
Sevinj Mastiyeva
Şəbnəm Mehralıyeva
Shabnam Mehraliyeva
Shahana Huseynzade
Shahin Mammadli
Shahsenem Rasulova
Shamil Farzaliyev
Shamil Mustafayev
Shamistan Ahmadov
Sumaya Quliyeva
Suru Hajiyeva
Tahir Valiyev
Tahmasib İmamaliyev
Tamara Aslanova
Tamara Danilyuk
Tamara Makinskaya
Tamkin Aslanli
Tarlan Ahmadov
Toghrul Aghakishiyev
Togrul Kalbaliyev
Tokay Ahmadov
Tukaz Ahmadova
Tural Ismayilov
Turan Karim
Turana Pashayeva
Turgut Taghizade
Turkan Qurbanzada
Tutukhanim Balayeva
Ulkar Aligulova
Ulkər Sharifli
Ulvi Mustafayev
Vafa Garayeva
Valik Mancharov
Vugar Aliyev
Vugar Mammadov
Vusal Asgarov
Yashar Baxshiyev
Yasin Guliyev
Yusif Israfilbayov
Zahra Iskandarli
Zeynab Abdullayeva
Zeynab Mammadova

Annex: Pictures from Kalbajar, Fuzuli and Aghdam cities.