Parliament Speaker: Rights of Western Azerbaijanis to be restored

Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliament (Milli Majlis) Sahiba Gafarova at the 13th plenary session of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly touched upon the issue related to Western Azerbaijan.

APA reports that Gafarova addressed a number of historical facts in her speech at the 13th plenary session of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly.

She said that Azerbaijanis living in Armenia were expelled from their homes even before the conflict began. In addition, Sahiba Gafarova informed the audience that historical maps and documents confirm the creation of Armenia on historical Azerbaijani lands, and that Azerbaijanis lived in these lands for centuries.

The speaker noted that historical Azerbaijani city Irevan, was declared the capital of Armenia in 1918, and in 1920, by the decision of the Soviet government, Zangazur was alienated from Azerbaijan and annexed to Armenia. The second deprived Azerbaijan of geographical connection both with its own region - Nakhchivan - and with Türkiye.

She noted that during the 20th century, Azerbaijanis living in these territories were subjected to deportation several times, the last stage of which we all saw in 1988-1991. Just like what happened in Karabakh, in Western Azerbaijan, all historical and religious monuments of Azerbaijani people were purposefully destroyed, and essentially Azerbaijani cities and villages were renamed.

Sahiba Gafarova stated that she firmly believes that the rights of Western Azerbaijanis will be restored, these people will return to their native lands.