Advocates urge Trump to push for return of Armenian Christians

Christian Solidarity International, or CSI, on Friday urged President Donald Trump to advocate for the safe return of Armenian Christians to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region during his peace summit with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. CSI is a religious liberty advocacy group with consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The group asked Trump to support the Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno-Karabakh, which urges Azerbaijan to attend a forum with ethnic Armenian leaders of the region. The forum’s goal would be a deal allowing nearly 150,000 ethnic Armenian Christians displaced from the region to return there safely.

Trump’s peace summit took place Friday afternoon at the White House. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a peace deal, ending 34 years of conflict, Trump said. The U.S. president also signed bilateral economic deals with both countries on Friday.

What happened in Nagorno-Karabakh? Azerbaijan recaptured the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2023. It promised amnesty to the ethnic Armenians living there, nearly all of whom were Christians. But they fled to mainland Armenia, not trusting the amnesty agreement and fearing ethnic cleansing. Azerbaijan arrested the leaders of the region, accusing them of terrorism.

Who else did CSI urge Trump to advocate for at the meeting?

• Over 100 Armenians held as hostages or forcibly kidnapped by the government of Azerbaijan.

• Azerbaijani journalists, academics, and human rights activists imprisoned in their own country, some for pushing for peace with Armenia.

• More than two dozen Armenian clergymen, government members, and representatives of the people of Nagorno–Karabakh the government of Armenia imprisoned in recent months.

Dig deeper: Listen to Jenny Lind Schmitt’s report on the history of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.