Karabakh activists representing the refugees say that such statements made by them this month are part of a deliberate campaign of hate speech orchestrated by the Armenian government
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and members of his political team have faced such accusations ever since the 2023 exodus of Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population resulting from an Azerbaijani military offensive. Their loyalists have attacked Karabakh Armenians for participating in anti-government demonstrations.
The activists, who officially do not represent Karabakh’s exiled leadership, say that the smear campaign intensified dramatically after they rallied thousands of refugees in Yerevan late last month to demand that the government stop discriminating against them, champion their right to safely return to their homeland on the international stage and keep up housing allowances paid to many of them. They picketed the headquarters of Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General on April 14 to demand criminal proceedings against members and supporters of the ruling Civil Contract party accused by them of spreading the hate speech.
Government loyalists continued their anti-Karabakh rhetoric in the following days. Nane Israelian, who runs an obscure news website staunchly supporting Pashinian, lashed out at Karabakh Armenians on April 17, branding them as “land givers.” Also, her xosnak.am website continued publishing hateful comments made by Yerevan residents it claimed to have interviewed randomly.
One of them, an elderly woman, said the Karabakh Armenians are “remnant of the Turks” who deserve to be killed. Responding to a resulting uproar, the website claimed that it simply published an “opinion,” rather than spread hate speech.
Roman Baghdasarian, a controversial pro-government blogger, made on April 8 a disparaging post about Karabakh Armenians who have received government aid. He said on Sunday he did not refer to all refugees. He called for the families of former Karabakh officials who “stole Armenia’s money for 35 years” to be stripped of such aid.
In response to a complaint filed by a group of Karabakh activists, Armenia’s Investigative Committee said it will conduct an inquiry to determine whether the statements made Baghdasarian or Israelian violated an Armenian law criminalizing hate speech. It was not clear on Monday whether investigators have already questioned either government loyalist.
No Pashinian supporter is known to have been prosecuted on such charges to date. Law-enforcement authorities have targeted instead outspoken critics of the government.