Acting President of Artsakh Ashot Danielyan (left) presents an official letter to Swiss MPs and co-chairs of the Swiss Peace Initiative Stefan Müller-Altermatt (center) and Erich Vontobel (right) at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Artsakh in Yerevan, Armenia on February 4, 2026. csi
MEDIA RELEASE
Nearly one year after the Swiss parliament adopted a motion on a peace forum for Nagorno Karabakh, the acting president of the Republic of Artsakh has written to Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis urging him to make the Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno Karabakh a reality.
The Artsakh government’s appeal is backed by a non-partisan committee of 19 parliamentarians and Christian Solidarity International (CSI).
In March 2025, Motion 24.4259, “Peace Forum for Nagorno-Karabakh: Enabling the Return of Armenians,” was adopted by the Swiss parliament. The motion mandates the Swiss government with convening a peace forum between Azerbaijan and the representatives of the Armenian people of Nagorno Karabakh, “in order to negotiate the collective return, in complete security, of the Armenian population.”
In September 2023, Azerbaijan attacked Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) after a nine-month siege and expelled the Armenians living there. The International Court of Justice has ruled that they have the right to return.
In his letter of February 2, the acting president and parliamentary speaker of Artsakh’s government-in-exile, Ashot Danielyan, praises the adoption of the motion as a “rare and meaningful act of moral clarity in an international environment otherwise marked by diplomatic inertia.”
Danielyan expresses the hope that the motion “will come to fruition, offering the displaced people of Nagorno-Karabakh a credible and principled pathway toward the realization of their most fundamental right: a safe and dignified return to their homes.”
He stresses that the approximately 150,000 displaced people of Nagorno Karabakh do not intend to change the geopolitical order or undermine the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“President Danielyan’s letter underscores the urgency of the matter,” commented Swiss parliamentarian Erich Vontobel, co-president of the parliamentary committee. “Switzerland has sent a strong signal by adopting the motion. Now we expect the Federal Council to fulfill this parliamentary mandate and convene the Peace Forum promptly.”
His fellow co-president, Stefan Müller-Altermatt, added, “Switzerland has a long tradition as a mediator in international conflicts. The displaced population of Nagorno Karabakh deserves for this tradition to be applied in their case as well.”
CSI-Switzerland Director Simon Brechbühl also urged implementation of the motion. “We call on the Federal Council to fulfill the mandate of Parliament and to contribute to a just peace in the South Caucasus by holding a peace forum for Nagorno Karabakh.”
The Swiss Peace Initiative committee, founded in Bern in May 2025, is committed to finding a sustainable political solution to the Karabakh conflict and assisting the Federal Council in implementing the parliamentary mandate.
A delegation from CSI, accompanied by Erich Vontobel and Stefan Müller-Altermatt, visited Armenia in early February and was received by the Artsakh leadership at the Representation of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh in Yerevan.
On February 7, Azerbaijan appeared to challenge Armenia for allowing that meeting to go ahead. The Azerbaijani state-run news service Caliber said that if Armenia “truly adheres to a course of peace,” it should “shut down the office of the self-proclaimed regime” and “not allow such a meeting to take place.”
