Whitewashing Genocide And Ethnic Cleansing: Part II

Originally published by 301 on October 30 2025.

STEPANAKERT, OCCUPIED ARTSAKH—Azerbaijani state structures and their allies have been extremely active in their efforts to try and fully subsume and exploit Armenian Artsakh’s resources whether they be natural, financial, security-based, or cultural.

Azeri governmental and non-governmental actors have been cultivating increasingly greater relations with domestic and foreign corporate and state entities to actively exploit Artsakh’s vast resources from substantial water supplies integral to regional needs, services, and hegemony to precious metals, rare earth minerals, and green-energy raw materials and sources.

Azerbaijan, with help from not only other Turkic states, but from Europe, the US, and Israel, among others, hopes to solidify and anchor its bid to force “blind eye approval” of its ongoing genocide against Armenians from international businesses, academics, journalists, and–for that matter–anyone ready and willing to accept the bribe-money, “payola” the petro-dollar rich dictatorship is willing to always provide for collusion and exploitation.

We previously reported just some of the activities endeavored by Azerbaijan (https://www.301.am/2025/10/06/whitewashing-genocide-and-ethnic-cleansing-part1/) to glean tacit “Seals-of-Approval” from the international community as was, and is, characterized by its manipulation of diplomatic missions, political dignitaries and others through paid trips to occupied Artsakh, conferences, celebrations, and junkets for luxury tourism and other ventures.

Although international and regional events are moving at a heightened pace, exacerbated by the social media news feed cycle, making activities over the last year seem all but “ancient,” with state and non-state actors often times playing multiple and seemingly contradictory roles, it is important to see players and their activities within the dynamics of an overarching, current Armenian reality vis a vis the world and the region.

Of particular note are the interactions of individuals, states, and other entities during the year prior to the Aliyev-Trump-Pashinyan meeting/charade of recent memory and how the event was orchestrated, how related themes have been presented, and how narratives grounding actions in real time have been and are being deployed.

Based on publicly available primary and secondary sources, a listing of just some actors who have engaged Azeri occupied Artsakh or have participated in related events is provided below, including academics, journalists, analysts, and institutional actors such as think tanks and companies/corporations during the time period June 2024 – May 2025, inclusive.

The list is not complete or exhaustive by any means, but does provide a cross-sectional view of some of the activities and entities who have been complicit through their interactions, actively and passively, in Azerbaijan’s glaring and continuing campaign of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and cultural appropriation against indigenous Armenians, Artsakh, and the Armenian people as a whole.

Oracle Advisory Group—US-based organization; conducted exit polls operating in 6 polling stations in Nakhichevan and occupied Artsakh during snap parliamentary elections. (September 2, 2024.) [1]

Professor Umar Farooq—Professor from Pakistan’s University of Agriculture; participated in roundtable discussions in Azeri occupied Shushi as part of a so-called “International Gastronomy Day,” which showcased gastronomic, tangible and intangible cultural heritage. (September 9, 2024.) [2]

Professor Huseyin Pamukcu — Professor from the Turkish Afyon Kocatepe University; also participated in roundtable discussions on “International Gastronomy Day” in occupied Shushi. (September 9, 2024.)[3]

Forum of Azerbaijani Scientists Living Abroad—A group of more than 80 Azerbaijani scientists from around the world planned to visit occupied Shushi and Stepanakert with the goal of contributing their “expertise” to the “reconstruction of the territories.” (Read: destruction of indigenous sacred and civilian sites with construction of Azeri spaces in their stead); Discussions were also planned with the faculty of the post-Azeri occupation renamed “Qarabagh University.” (originally Artsakh State University). (September 9, 2024.) [4]

A group of foreign journalists visited occupied Artsakh on the occasion of a concocted “Remembrance Day,” with the mission to draw attention to the region’s so-called “ongoing restoration.” which is a ruse to camouflage further destruction of indigenous Armenian historic sites and dwellings. This group included:

Zsolt Suto-Nagy, editor of Hungary’s largest newspaper and website, Magyar Hirlap).
A journalist from the Bulgarian State News Agency
Nahida Deniz, member of the Union of Journalists of Uzbekistan
Hamza Jumayev, editor-in-chief of the Yoshlar TV channel.

The trip was financed by the Azeri Agency for State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations. (September 30, 2024.) [6]

Kseniya Sobchak – Russian journalist; conducted an interview with businessman Emil Agalarov, during which Agalarov noted Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s visit to the “new territories of Karabakh”. (October 7, 2024.) [7]

A group of invited scholars attended a meeting of health ministers from the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) member and observer states convened in occupied Shushi. (October 14, 2024.) [8]

Turkish Professors Evrin Gucher and Metehan Tolon from Ankara’s Haci Bayram Veli University were scheduled to teach at the now Azeri state-run Qarabagh University (originally Artsakh State University) in occupied Stepanakert during the 2024/2025 academic year. (October 28, 2024.) [9]

Professor Mehmet Yuce of Bursa Uludag University, in Turkey, spoke about the geostrategic and geo-economic importance of Artsakh at an event in Turkey dedicated to “Azerbaijan’s victory in the Second Artsakh War”. (November 4, 2024.) [10]

Professor Javid Abdullzade of Ankara University, in Turkey, spoke about the so-called “Zangezur Corridor” and the legal aspects of the so-called “return of Azerbaijanis to their ancestral homeland” at the same event in Turkey. (November 4, 2024.) [11]

Bahadur Guler – Turkish historian; addressed an event in Denmark dedicated to Azerbaijan’s victory day in the Second Artsakh War. (November 4, 2024.) [12]

Two US-based companies, Schlumberger (SLB) and Baker Hughes, are exploring the geothermal energy potential of occupied Artsakh. SLB is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Baker Hughes is headquartered in Houston, Texas and London, UK. (November 25 – December 1, 2024.) [13]

Investment firm “Morningstar” announced a new policy that would end coverage of human rights issues in “disputes concerning contiguous territories,” including Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), implying that in assessing business ventures in occupied Artsakh, “Morningstar” will no longer consider human rights abuses. (January 5, 2025.) [14]

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Science and Higher Education, Sayasat Nurbek, announced that they will support Qarabagh University (renamed by occupation forces from its original indigenous designation, Artsakh State University) by deploying lecturers, including specialists in math, biology, chemistry, artificial intelligence, and computer engineering, and create a special scholarship program for Central Asian students. (March 3, 2025.) [15]

The Social Research Center in Azerbaijan co-hosted a conference in Baku titled “In the Footsteps of the Deported Heritage,” which discussed the so-called “return to Western Azerbaijan” and the “Zangezur Corridor.” (March 16, 2025.) [16]

The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) presented an “Assessment Report: Accounting for Missing Persons in the Republic of Azerbaijan” at an event hosted by the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages, and Missing Persons in Azerbaijan. The report highlighted the number of people registered missing as a result of purported “Armenian aggression.” (March 16, 2025.) [17]

The Nizami Ganjavi International Center hosted the 12th Global Baku Forum, where President Aliyev spoke about the Artsakh conflict, Armenia, and the OSCE Minsk Group. Various former and current international politicians and officials were present. (March 16, 2025.) [18]

Nabil Shaheen Kifrili – Chairman of the Turkmen Academicians Organization, discussed a student exchange program between Qarabagh University and University of Kirkuk in Iraq during a panel discussion in Baku. (March 23, 2025.) [19]

The 7th ADA Policy Forum, jointly organized by ADA University and the Center of Analysis of International Relations, was held in occupied Stepanakert on April 8th. The event was attended by international experts and think tank representatives from 44 countries. (This forum was reported the week of April 13, 2025.) The first panel was entitled “Geopolitical Changes and Their Impact on Regional Sovereignty.” The panel included Jennifer Wistrand, Deputy Director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center in the US, Istvan Kis, Executive Director of the Danube Institute in Hungary, Cagri Erhan, Chief Advisor to the President of Turkiye, and Urs Unkauf, Head of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade. The second panel covered “New World Order: Expectations from Economic Transformation and Digital Revolution.” [20]

Antonio Stango, President of the Italian Federation for Human Rights, attended the ADA Policy Forum in occupied Stepanakert and commented on the so-called “restoration work.” (April 13, 2025.) [21]
Omar Ashour, Professor of Security and Military Studies at the Doha Graduate Institute and the University of Exeter in the UK, attended the ADA Policy Forum in occupied Stepanakert and commented on the so-called “restoration” of occupied Artsakh and the “importance of promoting it.” (April 13, 2025.) [22]

Sheraz Mehmood, a researcher at the Institute of Regional Studies at the Western Caspian University in Azerbaijan, attended the ADA Policy Forum in occupied Stepanakert and commented on what she termed “the large-scale reconstruction work.” (April 13, 2025.) [23]

James Sharp, the former Ambassador of the UK to Azerbaijan, attended the ADA Policy Forum in occupied Stepanakert and commented on the then recent “statements regarding a peace agreement.” (April 13, 2025.) [24]
Laszlo Vasa, Chief Advisor, Senior Researcher, and Professor at the Institute of International Relations of Hungary, attended the ADA Policy Forum in occupied Stepanakert. He noted bilateral efforts to “increase gas transport infrastructure capacity” and spoke about “green energy projects” tied to the so-called “reconstruction program” in Artsakh. He stated he was a frequent visitor to occupied Artsakh, having previously visited Aghdam, Shushi, Lachin, and Fizuli. (April 13, 2025.) [25]

Antun Dujmovic, an expert at the Institute for Development and International Relations of Croatia, attended the ADA Policy Forum in occupied Stepanakert and commented on his “extremely positive” reactions to the visit. (April 13, 2025.) [26]

Anatoly Boyashov, an analyst of the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies, attended the ADA Policy Forum in occupied Stepanakert and commented on President Aliyev’s “strategic vision for the development of the liberated territories,” noting the “systemic reconstruction process” and “the building of the educational system.” (April 13, 2025.) [27]

Rick Fawn, a Professor from the University of St. Andrews in the UK, attended the ADA Policy Forum in occupied Stepanakert and stated that “the signing of a peace agreement would ensure prosperity for the region.” (April 13, 2025.) [28]

A group of University Rectors from Kayseri, Turkey, were included in a Turkish delegation that visited occupied Stepanakert and Khojaly and held a meeting with students and faculty at Qarabagh University. (April 20, 2025.) [29]

Malik Ayub Sumbal–Pakistani journalist and author of the book, “From Tovuz to Karabakh: A Comprehensive Analysis of War in the South Caucasus,” visited occupied Stepanakert, Shushi, and Aghdam, and toured Qarabagh University. He also met with the Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Diaspora. (April 27, 2025.) [30]

NomadMani Travel Club–A group, including travelers from 30 countries (including the US), traveled to occupied Stepanakert, Aghdam, Fizuli, and Shushi, visiting sites like the recently created “Alley of Martyrs,” Juma Mosque, and the Imarat Complex, and touring Qarabagh University. They purportedly observed so-called “reconstruction efforts,” which are in fact the results of the almost total destruction of Armenian civilian structures and the continued destruction of Armenian millennial cultural heritage. Several individual travelers commented on their impressions, including US travelers Basanth Sadasivan and Devon Debany. (April 27, 2025.) [31]