DDF representative’s speech at the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference

On October 8, Arpi Harutyunyan, Justice and Human Rights Portfolio Manager at the Democracy Development Foundation, participated in the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). During the conference, she addressed the worsening xenophobia and hatred towards Armenians in Azerbaijan.

Below, we present the Armenian translation of Arpi Harutyunyan’s speech:

՛՛Thank you, madam moderator.

It deeply saddens me, that each year we find ourselves returning to Warsaw, addressing the same issues about the same states, and the situation only worsens over time. Today, I speak about the persistent and escalating xenophobia in Azerbaijan, with a particular focus on the ethnic hatred directed at Armenians. While this racial animosity has long and deep-rooted origins, it took a sharp and dangerous turn in 2004 with the Safarov case.

For those unfamiliar, Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani army officer, violently murdered an Armenian officer in his sleep, during a NATO training program in Hungary. Upon his transfer to Azerbaijan to serve his sentence, Safarov was immediately pardoned as soon as his plane touched Azerbaijani soil, and celebrated as a national hero, received generous gifts and awards just for murdering an Armenian. This glorification of violence wasn’t just about one man—imagine the signal it sent to the entire Azerbaijani society. It was a green light for further violence, and we’ve seen this play out tragically in recent years. The beheadings of Armenians during the 2016 war, the brutal torture and beheadings of Armenian POWs in 2020, the horrific mutilation of the bodies Armenian servicewomen in 2022, the ethnic cleansing of 2023 —these aren’t isolated events, but rather the consequences of systematic hate speech and the glorification of violence. This pattern doesn’t stop. What’s clear is that this hatred has been nurtured for decades, and the international community cannot turn a blind eye anymore.

Hate speech against Armenians isn’t new—it has been deeply entrenched in Azerbaijan’s society for generations. In 2022, the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination highlighted how public figures, government officials, and media outlets in Azerbaijan continue to spread racial hatred without any accountability. This fuels more violence, perpetuating the dangerous cycle. There are videos circulating on social media showing young schoolchildren pledging allegiance to their country while vowing to hate Armenians, their so-called “enemy.” This systematic indoctrination starts early and is supported by the state, embedding hatred into the fabric of society.

In 2016, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance warned of an entire generation of Azerbaijanis growing up listening to hate speech against Armenians from school, media, and political leaders. Instead of curbing this rhetoric, it is only intensified by high-ranking officials in Azerbaijan, especially during and after the 2020 war. I am glad that my Azerbaijani colleague speaks about not hating each other here on this platform, but he forgets to mention how it is his Government that keeps escalating a hate-campaign, his president publicly labels us as dogs, animals, devils, cancerous tumors—every dehumanizing slur you can imagine, he has used it. This hate speech has real-world consequences. This is not just about words—it leads to real violence, and the responsibility to confront it lies with all of us.

Until Azerbaijan acknowledges the hatred it has fostered and starts to take steps to fight it, is real peace even possible?

Thank you”.