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For Armenia it was a traumatic experience: 108 years after the Turkish genocide, Azerbaijan launched a military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023 and expelled the Christian population to Armenia. Russia, Armenia’s former protective power, was greatly weakened by the war in Ukraine and did not intervene. Azerbaijan’s closest ally, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (70), is even stronger. Ankara and Baku have long seen themselves as “one nation with two states.”
Shortly after the aggression, Armenia’s behavior was the subject of discussion at the United Nations in New York. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (43) and her French colleague Catherine Colonna (67) found clear words. And Switzerland? She did not condemn, but was “deeply concerned”, as Swiss UN Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl (55) said during an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
EDA ignored warnings from the embassy in Armenia
Research by Blick based on the public information law shows: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs deliberately opted for a moderate statement and ignored warnings from the Swiss embassy in Armenia. They had sounded the alarm internally and called for a stricter statement: the risk of mass deportations on a large scale must be addressed immediately: “The risk really exists.” The cable from Yerevan, available to Blick, goes on to say: “In general, it seems to us that we need to tighten the language after yesterday’s attack.” However, Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis (62) ignored the call.
One of Cassis’s sharpest critics on the Armenia issue is Stefan Müller-Altermatt (47), a member of the Center National Council. He is co-chairman of the Switzerland-Armenia Society and reacts indignantly: “Cassis cringes before Azerbaijan.” The FDFA deliberately downplayed the danger. ‘Switzerland has given global society a Swiss touch when it looks the other way. The fact that the world looked the other way when the Armenians were expelled from their homeland was bad. That the FDFA also ignored the warnings is inexcusable – and at the same time a warning: Armenia’s survival is now threatened,” Müller-Altermatt told Blick. “If we look the other way again and ignore our warnings, it could mean complicity in another genocide.”
“We cringe before the oil state”
The centrist politician sees Switzerland as having a special responsibility: “Switzerland is an important commodity trading center. In this regard, it is not only Cassis who is cunning, but also Parmelin and the entire Federal Council. Azerbaijan, together with Russia, finances its aggression policy in Switzerland. And yes: we shy away from this oil state.”
The FDFA argues: Two days after the start of the Azerbaijani military operation, Switzerland focused mainly on calling for compliance with international humanitarian law, human rights and the protection of the civilian population. “The majority of the other members of the Security Council did not comment on the refugee movements during this emergency meeting, which only became widely apparent in the following days,” the FDFA said. “A few days later, Switzerland expressed its regret that more than a hundred thousand people had to flee and leave their homes, for example in the OSCE.”
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
