When dictator Bashar al-Assad was thrown out of power in December 2024, it ended over 50 years of his family controlling Syria. Now a new temporary government is running Syria, led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and dominated by a jihadist organization called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) . For the Alawite people, who are a… Read more »
U.S. President Donald Trump with new Syrian President – and former jihadist leader – Ahmad al-Sharaa. Riyadh, 14 May 2025. (Karoline Leavitt on X) Guest Commentary by Charles Glass And you know something’s happeningBut you don’t know what it isDo you, Mister Jones? Bob Dylan, “Ballad of a Thin Man,” 1965 When the… Read more »
These women and their children are among the 120,000 Armenians displaced from their homes in Nagorno Karabakh. csi The catalyst was a trip to Armenia in September 2024 and a moving encounter with refugees from Nagorno Karabakh – which Azerbaijan had invaded one year previously, expelling its 120,000-strong Armenian Christian population. “They asked me,… Read more »
The international annual report provides an insight into the project and advocacy work carried out in the year under review.
The Rohingya refugees allegedly lured into deportation from India had been living in the capital city, New Delhi (pictured), prior to being expelled. csi At the height of the India-Pakistan clashes in early May, around 40 Rohingya refugees—some Christian, some Muslim, all holding valid UNHCR refugee cards—were forcibly expelled from India. Relevant documents and… Read more »
Vartan Oskanian spoke about the right of return to Nagorno Karabakh at the launch of the Swiss Peace Initiative on May 26. facebook On May 26, a committee of 19 Swiss parliamentarians from across the political spectrum launched the Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno Karabakh in the Swiss capital, Bern. During… Read more »
Speakers at the launch of the Swiss Peace Initiative in Bern, left to right: Erich Vontobel, Sarkis Shahinian, Vartan Oskanian, Joel Veldkamp: csi – Switzerland urged to move ahead quickly with peace forum On May 26, a cross-party Swiss parliamentary committee launched the Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno Karabakh in the Swiss capital, Bern…. Read more »
After nearly 2,000 years of Christian presence in the land, Nagorno Karabakh now lies empty following ethnic cleansing by Azerbaijani forces in September 2023. csi Guest commentary by Neil Hauer On April 20, Armenians around the world marked Easter Sunday. The celebration of Jesus’s resurrection took place in communities ranging from Yerevan to Tbilisi, from… Read more »
Displaced Armenians rally in front of the Swiss embassy on March 13, 2025. Key points: A year and a half after Azerbaijan expelled them, the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) are united in their desire to return to their homeland. The vast majority are refusing to take Armenian citizenship, and as they fear losing… Read more »
The Swiss Peace Initiative is being launched on May 26, 2025. csi CSI welcomes formation of committee by members of Swiss parliament in support of a peace forum to negotiate the safe return of Armenians to their homeland On May 26, a cross-party committee of 19 parliamentarians in support of the Swiss Peace Initiative… Read more »
