Armenia ignores right to return of exiled Azerbaijanis Statement by Western Azerbaijan Community

The Western Azerbaijan Community commented on Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan's remarks in an interview with Armenian media on the return of Armenians to the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

“The fact that the Armenian leadership, having rejected Azerbaijan's reintegration proposal, talks about the return of Armenians who left Karabakh, but is silent about the right of return of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia is absurd," Caliber.Az reports, citing the Community's statement.

The statement said Khachaturyan's remarks clearly demonstrate the discriminatory policy of the Armenian side.

"We strongly condemn the Armenian leadership's disregard for the principle of reciprocity in the issue of return and the violation of the right of Azerbaijanis to return to Armenia. We demand from the government of this country to create conditions for the safe and dignified return of Azerbaijanis,” the statement reads.

The organization, which was established as “the Society of Azerbaijani Refugees” in 1989 and which was renamed to “the Western Azerbaijan Community” in 2022, deals with the protection of the rights of Azerbaijanis expelled from the territory of nowadays Armenia.

This Concept defines the general framework for the objectives and principles of the activity, including the preparatory and implementation measures to be carried out by the Community for the return of Azerbaijanis forcibly expelled from the territory of nowadays Armenia. The Concept is based on international law, relevant domestic law, and historical facts, and serves to ensure justice and peace.

The people of Azerbaijan have suffered greatly from armed conflicts, occupation, ethnic cleansing, forced relocation, and genocide during the last two centuries. The expelling of Azerbaijanis from the current territory of Armenia, where they once constituted an absolute majority, was completed in 1991. As a result of ethnic cleansing, that area is now inhabited exclusively by ethnic Armenians.

Ethnic cleansing committed against Azerbaijanis was in most cases carried out with systematic actions of State organs through violence, genocide, massacres and other crimes against humanity and gross violations of human rights. This process was particularly violent and cruel in 1905–1906, 1918–1921, 1948–1953 and 1987–1991.

By Khagan Isayev