Baku to host conference on right of return for Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia

Baku will host the 2nd International Conference of the Western Azerbaijan Community on December 5 and 6, under the motto “The Right to Return – Advancing Justice for Azerbaijanis Expelled from Armenia.”

The conference is expected to attract over 100 foreign participants from 51 countries, Caliber.Az reports.

The event will address the history of the forced expulsion of Azerbaijanis from Armenia, delve into the legal foundations of their right to return, and explore the restoration of their cultural heritage. Diplomatic efforts in these areas will also be discussed.

A cultural program will be organized on December 6 as part of the conference.

The Western Azerbaijan Community is the sole public institution dedicated to addressing the issues faced by refugees from Western Azerbaijan since 1989. It has been actively collecting and preserving records and documents related to Azerbaijanis who became refugees between 1987 and 1991.

During this period, up to 300,000 Azerbaijanis (49,928 families) were forcibly expelled from their homes in over 170 villages solely inhabited by Azerbaijanis in Western Azerbaijan (present-day Armenia), as well as nearly 100 mixed settlements (villages, towns, and communities with both Azerbaijani and Armenian populations).

During these expulsions, more than 200 Azerbaijanis were killed—some shot, others victims of premeditated road accidents, or left to freeze to death—at the hands of Armenian extremists. Over 400 others were injured. The properties of many Azerbaijanis were looted, burned, and illegally seized.

Of the 50,000 families displaced from Western Azerbaijan in 1987-1991, the damage to nearly 20,000 families has already been assessed, and efforts are ongoing to address the situation.

The Community has gathered detailed statistical data on each refugee family (including their name, surname, and patronymic) from nearly 300 settlements in Western Azerbaijan during this period. It continues to systematically compile an accurate list of all historical and cultural heritage sites in the region, assessing their current condition.

By Vafa Guliyeva