CSI President Dr. John Eibner delivered a speech to mark the Armenian Genocide at an event in Frankfurt. Central Council of Armenians in Germany
April 24 marked 111 years since Ottoman Turkey launched a genocide against the Christian Armenian population, killing 1.5 million people. Commemorative events were held in the Armenian capital Yerevan and globally.
Spirit of genocide lives on
Speaking at one such commemorative event in Frankfurt, CSI President Dr. John Eibner reflected that the spirit of the Armenian Genocide still lives on.
Referring to an “unbroken chain of violence” against the Armenians since 1915, Eibner said this had reached a climax in the 2023 invasion of Nagorno Karabakh, also known as Artsakh, and the ethnic cleansing of its Armenian Christian population.
“Today, Nagorno Karabakh stands empty of its Armenian Christian inhabitants,” he noted. “Now Turkey and Azerbaijan have set their sights on the Republic of Armenia, or Western Azerbaijan, as it is called by the dictatorial president of Azerbaijan. It has placed the tiny Republic of Armenia under threat of war.”
Eibner observed that in the current ‘might is right’ political culture, international human rights instruments are often ignored, or applied selectively.
“It is in times like these that the spirit of genocide is given free reign,” he warned.
Denial of justice will never produce true peace
To mark the Armenian Genocide anniversary, Christian Solidarity International spoke with genocide scholar Dr. Elyse Semerdjian. In the interview, she concurs with John Eibner that international pressure is threatening efforts to preserve the memory of the Armenian Genocide.
She also points out that Turkey’s long-standing Armenian Genocide denial policy has evolved into active pressure on the government of Armenia to self-censor historical terminology to avoid further aggression.
But she warns, “The denial of justice to the victims of 1915 and the victims of 2023 in Artsakh will never produce a true peace. It will be the peace of the graveyard.”
Responding to the news that Azerbaijan has completely demolished the central cathedral in Nagorno Karabakh, Semerdjian points out that buildings, books, and cultural heritage are “extensions of people and the national fabric they belong to.”
The demolition of the Stepanakert cathedral is part of the process of destruction of the national fabric and fits with one aspect of genocide, she says.
Complaint to UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
On April 17, CSI joined a coalition of human rights groups calling for an investigation into financial ties between Azerbaijan and a key member of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
In February 2025, the UN Group had ruled that Ruben Vardanyan, held prisoner by Azerbaijan since September 2023, is not arbitrarily detained.
The complaint to UN bodies highlights a conflict of interest that may have led the Working Group to rule against Vardanyan, one of the 20 Armenian hostages held by Azerbaijan. It reveals that Ganna Yukivska, part of the Working Group, has undisclosed financial and political ties to Azerbaijan.
The signatories call for an investigation into Yukivska’s conduct, her recusal from all future decisions regarding Azerbaijan, and for a new opinion to be issued on the Vardanyan case.
CSI launches Sudan hunger relief campaign
Civil war has been raging in Sudan for more than three years now. Millions are displaced. Two million people have sought refuge in the Nuba Mountains region of the south alone—and more are arriving every day.
Those who have fled the violence now face the threat of starvation. In the overcrowded camps for internally displaced persons in the Nuba Mountains there is not enough food to go round.
Christian Solidarity International (CSI) is distributing food, blankets, mosquito nets and medicines to families in camps in the Nuba Mountains. A team from CSI met many displaced Sudanese during a recent visit to the Nuba Mountains. There, they were impressed by the solidarity shown to the new arrivals by the local Christian community.
But the needs of the displaced are too great to be met by the local community alone. In response to the great need, CSI has launched a fundraising appeal for the Nuba Mountains. To find out more, and make a donation, please visit the Sudan campaign page on our website.
