TRUTH AND ACCOUNTABILITY LEAGUE (TAAL)
POSITION STATEMENT
Tourism Must Not Normalize the Artsakh Genocide
August 2026
The Truth and Accountability League (TAAL) calls on travel companies, tourism boards, airlines, hotel chains, online travel platforms, governments, diplomatic missions, international organizations, and cultural institutions to suspend tourism, promotional activity, commercial tourism partnerships, and normalization-oriented official visits to Artsakh while its indigenous Armenian population remains forcibly displaced.
A homeland emptied of its indigenous population through genocide and forced displacement is not a tourist destination.
Private Screener: For additional context, we are also providing a private screener of ARTSAKH: Armenian Genocide Continues, an Official Selection in 82 international film festivals and winner of 40 “Best Documentary Feature” awards.
The documentary examines the Artsakh Genocide, the blockade, forced displacement, and ongoing consequences for the Armenian people of Artsakh. This screener is separate from TAAL’s position statement and is being shared as supplemental background material.
Screener: https://youtu.be/0T9WEUpt9ZQ
In September 2023, following a months-long blockade and military assault by Azerbaijan, virtually the entire indigenous Armenian population of Artsakh, approximately 120,000 people, was forced to flee, abandoning their homes, churches, monasteries, cemeteries, schools, and communities that had existed for millennia.
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Genocide Watch have characterized these events as the Artsakh Genocide. Former International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo concluded that Azerbaijan’s blockade and military attack constituted genocide under the Genocide Convention.
Today, the Armenian population of Artsakh remains displaced while the region’s Armenian cultural and religious heritage remains at risk.
Tourism cannot become a vehicle for historical erasure.
Artsakh must not be presented as a destination for tourism or official normalization while the indigenous Armenian population remains displaced and denied a safe, voluntary, dignified, and internationally monitored return.
The removal of a people does not erase their history.
The absence of a population does not transfer ownership of its heritage.
Companies Have a Responsibility
The travel industry has a responsibility not to market or facilitate tourism in Artsakh while the people forcibly displaced from that homeland remain unable to return. Tourism under these conditions risks sanitizing human rights violations and normalizing a post-genocide reality created through forced displacement.
In 2026, a tourism offering appearing through the Marriott Bonvoy Tours and Activities platform involving Artsakh was removed after public criticism concerning the omission of the Armenian history of the region and the circumstances surrounding the displacement of Artsakh’s Armenian population.
TAAL welcomes companies that withdraw such offerings and calls on others to do the same.
There can be no responsible tourism built upon the continued displacement of the people whose homeland is being marketed.
Official Engagement Requires Accountability
The concern extends beyond commercial tourism.
Governments, diplomatic missions, and international organizations carry an even greater responsibility when engaging with territories affected by genocide, forced displacement, and cultural destruction.
Azerbaijan has organized official visits to Shushi and surrounding areas for foreign diplomats, military attachés, and international representatives.
In May 2024, U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mark Libby visited Shushi, a visit that generated criticism from Armenian civil society organizations and observers who argued that official appearances risked normalizing the Artsakh Genocide.
European diplomatic representatives have also participated in Azerbaijani-organized visits to areas affected by the genocide.
TAAL recognizes that governments pursue diplomatic, economic, security, and energy interests. However, strategic interests must never become a justification for ignoring genocide, forced displacement, cultural destruction, or historical revisionism.
Nakhichevan: A Warning From History
The international community has already witnessed the consequences of failing to protect Armenian cultural heritage.
Caucasus Heritage Watch, an independent research initiative affiliated with scholars from Cornell University and Purdue University, documented through forensic satellite analysis the destruction of Armenian monasteries, churches, and cemeteries in Nakhichevan.
Researchers identified the destruction of 108 Armenian cultural heritage sites that they were able to locate and assess, representing 98 percent of those locations.
The destruction of the medieval Armenian cemetery at Julfa remains one of the most widely recognized examples of cultural erasure.
Nakhichevan demonstrates why the preservation of Artsakh’s Armenian heritage cannot depend solely on authorities that reject or reinterpret that heritage.
TAAL Calls for Action
TAAL calls upon travel companies, hotel chains, airlines, tour operators, online travel platforms, tourism boards, governments, diplomatic missions, international organizations, cultural institutions, and media organizations to suspend tourism, promotional initiatives, commercial partnerships, and normalization-oriented official visits involving Artsakh while its indigenous Armenian population remains forcibly displaced. Such activities should not resume unless and until the Armenians of Artsakh are guaranteed the safe, voluntary, dignified, and internationally monitored right to return to their homeland.
1. Suspend tourism, travel promotion, commercial tourism partnerships, and state-sponsored promotional visits to Artsakh while its indigenous Armenian population remains displaced.
2. Condition any normalization of tourism or official promotional engagement on credible guarantees for the safe, voluntary, dignified, and internationally monitored return of displaced Artsakh Armenians.
3. Support independent international access to monitor Armenian cultural and religious heritage, document destruction or alteration, and prevent further historical erasure.
4. Reject Azerbaijani state narratives that erase Armenian history, misrepresent Armenian cultural heritage, or portray the post-2023 reality as ordinary reconstruction, development, or tourism.
5. Consult displaced Artsakh Armenians, independent historians, genocide scholars, archaeologists, cultural heritage experts, and human rights organizations in developing policies concerning the right of return, cultural heritage protection, accountability, and any future conditions for the resumption of tourism or normalization-oriented activities.
TAAL welcomes dialogue with companies, governments, journalists, and institutions seeking historical context, documentation, or expert consultation regarding the suspension of normalization-oriented activities in Artsakh and the conditions necessary for the safe, voluntary, dignified, and internationally monitored return of its displaced Armenian population.
Diplomacy can advance justice.
Cultural preservation can protect humanity’s shared heritage.
International engagement can help secure accountability and the right of return.
But none of these goals can be achieved by normalizing the consequences of genocide or treating an emptied homeland as a tourist destination.
A homeland emptied by genocide must never be repackaged as a tourist destination while the people expelled from it are denied the right to return.
ABOUT TAAL
The Truth and Accountability League (TAAL) is dedicated to confronting historical denial, preserving cultural memory, documenting human rights abuses, and advocating for accountability for genocide and crimes against humanity.
MEDIA CONTACT
Vic Gerami
Founder & Chair
Truth and Accountability League (TAAL)
310.880.8563
TruthAndAccountabilityLeague.org
TRUTH AND ACCOUNTABILITY LEAGUE (TAAL)
SOURCE APPENDIX
Documentation and References for the Position Statement
Tourism Must Not Normalize the Artsakh Genocide
August 2026
This Source Appendix provides documentation and references supporting the principal factual and historical claims contained in the Truth and Accountability League position statement, Tourism Must Not Normalize the Artsakh Genocide.
1. THE ARTSAKH GENOCIDE
Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention
The Lemkin Institute has characterized the destruction and displacement of the Armenian population of Artsakh as the Artsakh Genocide.
Source:
Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention
On the One Year Anniversary of the Artsakh Genocide
Genocide Watch
Genocide Watch has also addressed the destruction and forced displacement of the Armenian population of Artsakh within the framework of genocide prevention and accountability.
Source:
Genocide Watch
https://www.genocidewatch.com/
2. LUIS MORENO OCAMPO
Former International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo concluded that Azerbaijan’s blockade and military attack constituted genocide under the Genocide Convention.
His reports examined the blockade of the Lachin Corridor, deprivation of essential supplies, forced displacement, and subsequent military assault against the Armenian population of Artsakh.
Sources:
Luis Moreno Ocampo
Report on Armenia and Artsakh
https://luismorenoocampo.com/lmo_en/report-armenia/
Luis Moreno Ocampo
Genocide Reports, December 2023
https://luismorenoocampo.com/lmo_en/report-genocides-december-2023/
3. FORCED DISPLACEMENT OF THE ARMENIAN POPULATION
Following Azerbaijan’s months-long blockade and September 2023 military assault, virtually the entire indigenous Armenian population of Artsakh, approximately 120,000 people, fled the region.
The mass displacement emptied Artsakh of the Armenian population that had maintained communities, religious institutions, cultural sites, cemeteries, schools, and civil institutions throughout the region.
Source:
Associated Press
Coverage of the mass exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh following Azerbaijan’s military offensive
https://apnews.com/article/4331781a6213e82a78b9ce152ed8d27c
4. ARMENIAN CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS HERITAGE IN ARTSAKH
Independent researchers and international institutions have raised concerns regarding the preservation, alteration, destruction, and reclassification of Armenian Christian and cultural heritage under Azerbaijani control.
These concerns include Armenian churches, monasteries, cemeteries, khachkars, inscriptions, monuments, and other cultural sites.
Sources:
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
Azerbaijan
https://www.uscirf.gov/countries/azerbaijan
U.S. Department of State
2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Azerbaijan
https://2021-2025.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/azerbaijan/
Caucasus Heritage Watch
https://caucasusheritage.cornell.edu/
5. MARRIOTT BONVOY TOURS AND ACTIVITIES
In 2026, a tourism offering appearing through the Marriott Bonvoy Tours and Activities platform involving Artsakh was removed following public criticism regarding its presentation of the region and omission of the Armenian history and displacement associated with the sites being marketed.
Marriott Bonvoy Tours and Activities operates through third-party travel partners.
Sources:
Marriott Bonvoy
Tours and Activities information
https://help.marriott.com/s/article/marriott-bonvoy-tours-activities
The Christian Post
Coverage of criticism surrounding the Artsakh tourism offering
https://www.christianpost.com/news/marriott-bonvoy-accused-of-genocide-tourism.html?mobile=true
6. AZERBAIJANI-ORGANIZED OFFICIAL VISITS TO SHUSHI
Azerbaijan has organized visits to Shushi and other areas for foreign diplomats, military attachés, and international representatives.
Such visits have become part of Azerbaijan’s broader effort to present territories affected by the displacement of the Armenian population as sites of reconstruction, development, diplomacy, and tourism.
Source:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Representatives of Diplomatic Corps in Azerbaijan Visit Shusha
https://losangeles.mfa.gov.az/en/news/representatives-of-diplomatic-corps-in-azerbaijan-visit-shusha
The title above retains the terminology used by the original source.
7. EUROPEAN DIPLOMATIC PARTICIPATION
European diplomatic representatives have participated in Azerbaijani-organized visits to areas affected by the conflict and displacement.
The Dutch government confirmed the participation of its ambassador in an Azerbaijan-organized visit to Shushi together with representatives of European Union member states and other countries.
Sources:
Dutch parliamentary record
https://www.openkamer.org/kamervraag/2022Z16938/
Government of the Netherlands parliamentary response
https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/ah-tk-20222023-190.html
8. U.S. AMBASSADOR MARK LIBBY'S VISIT TO SHUSHI
In May 2024, U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mark Libby visited Shushi.
The visit generated criticism from Armenian organizations and observers concerned that official diplomatic appearances in Artsakh could normalize the consequences of the displacement of the region’s Armenian population.
Source:
CivilNet
U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Pays First Visit to Shushi Under Pressure From Baku
9. NAKHICHEVAN AND THE DESTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE
Caucasus Heritage Watch conducted a forensic satellite investigation into Armenian cultural heritage in Nakhichevan.
Researchers documented the destruction of 108 Armenian monasteries, churches, and cemeteries, representing 98 percent of the Armenian heritage sites they were able to locate and assess.
The destruction occurred primarily between 1997 and 2011.
Among the most widely known examples is the destruction of the medieval Armenian cemetery at Julfa, which contained thousands of Armenian khachkars and other funerary monuments.
Sources:
Caucasus Heritage Watch
Silent Erasure: A Satellite Investigation of the Destruction of Armenian Cultural Heritage in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan
https://caucasusheritage.cornell.edu/?page_id=1842
Cornell University
Report Shows Near-Total Erasure of Armenian Heritage Sites
https://anthropology.cornell.edu/news/report-shows-near-total-erasure-armenian-heritage-sites
10. RECLASSIFICATION OF ARMENIAN HERITAGE
Azerbaijani authorities and state-supported narratives have promoted claims reclassifying historically Armenian Christian monuments as belonging to the ancient Caucasian Albanian tradition.
Scholars and cultural heritage researchers have raised concerns that such reinterpretations can contribute to the removal or denial of the Armenian identity of monuments and inscriptions.
Sources:
U.S. Department of State
2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Azerbaijan
https://2021-2025.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/azerbaijan/
Caucasus Heritage Watch
https://caucasusheritage.cornell.edu/
Caucasus Heritage Watch
Research on Armenian cultural heritage
https://caucasusheritage.cornell.edu/?page_id=1826
11. EUROPEAN UNION AND AZERBAIJAN ENERGY RELATIONS
In July 2022, the European Union and Azerbaijan strengthened their energy partnership as Europe sought to diversify energy supplies and reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels.
TAAL recognizes that governments maintain diplomatic, security, economic, and energy relationships with Azerbaijan. The position statement argues that such interests must not override obligations concerning genocide prevention, human rights, cultural heritage protection, accountability, and the right of displaced populations to return.
Sources:
European Commission
Statement by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, July 18, 2022
European Commission
EU Energy Relations With Eastern Neighborhood Countries
https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/international-cooperation/key-partner-countries-and-
Truth and Accountability League (TAAL)
TruthAndAccountabilityLeague.org
