World Council of Churches & Protestant Church in Switzerland to host conference on Armenian religious heritage in Artsakh

Armenian Heritage Conference, hosted by World Council of Churches (WCC) in collaboration with Protestant Church in Switzerland, will take place in Bern, Switzerland on 27 – 28 May 2025.

For many decades the WCC has stood by the Armenian people and churches through many challenges and crises, calling for accountability for historic and present violations of their rights and dignity and seeking a secure future.

Over these years, thousands of civilians including children, women, and the elderly, as well as military personnel, have been killed or wounded in successive conflicts in the region. A WCC statement on the consequences of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh was adopted in 2023, shortly after around 120,000 ethnic Armenians of Artsakh/Nagorno Karabakh had been forced out of their ancestral homeland by the armed forces of Azerbaijan. 

Following this exodus, many places of great cultural and religious significance have been abandoned, and grave concerns have been raised regarding their protection. The international community has an important role to play in ensuring the preservation of these holy places, to care for those displaced, to guarantee their right to return, and to guard against further conflict in an unstable region. 

The Armenian Heritage Conference aims to raise awareness regarding the need for protection of Armenian cultural and religious heritage in Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh, the current situation of the people who had to leave these holy places behind as they fled, and the importance of international community engagement in ensuring justice and sustainable peace in the region. 
Experts on international law and human rights, historians, politicians, representatives from international and nongovernmental organizations, faith leaders, and journalists will gather in Bern to discuss these issues, and to consider solutions to the challenges arising.

An audience of around 150 people is expected onsite in Bern, with others online, sharing the goal of promoting a constructive dialogue on issues related to the protection of Armenian people and heritage in Artsakh/Nagorno Karabakh and the wider region, in light of similar experiences elsewhere.