Some 300,000 Azerbaijanis should be guaranteed right to live in their homes Western Azerbaijan Community chairman says

Aziz Alakbarli, chairman of the board of the Western Azerbaijan Community, 300,000 Azerbaijanis should be guaranteed the right to live in their homes.

He made the comments at a meeting with Pakistan's Ambassador to Azerbaijan Bilal Haye, Report informs.

"Pakistan provided political and moral support in the international arena in bringing Azerbaijani realities to the world and in the 44-day Patriotic War. However, unfortunately, the world community is not sufficiently informed about the processes that have been going on in the South Caucasus for the last 200 years. Our goal is to inform the world community about these processes," Alakbarli said.

"We want to return in peace to our homes from where we were expelled 35 years ago," he added.

"Nearly 300,000 of our compatriots were expelled from the territory of present-day Armenia. If the Karabakh issue is concluded today and a peace agreement is signed, then 300,000 people should be guaranteed the right to live in their homes. We have applied to a number of international organizations in this regard. Our desire is to return to our homes in peace, from which we were expelled 35 years ago," the chairman said.

"In this regard, we have appealed to the Prime Minister of Armenia. We want our Azerbaijani compatriots, like the Armenians living in this country, to be able to return to Armenia and live there. Unfortunately, Nikol Pashinyan does not respond to our calls," Alekbarli stressed.

To recap, Pakistan's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Azerbaijan Bilal Haye visited West Azerbaijan Community to meet with Chairman of the Board Aziz Alakbarli and members of the Community.

The envoy was informed about the charter, structure and activities of the West Azerbaijan Community.

The meeting was also attended by, Deputy Chairman, MP Hikmet Babaoglu and Press Secretary of the Community Ulviyya Zulfigar.

The expulsion of Azerbaijanis from Armenia, where they had a significant presence, was a long and painful process, characterized by systematic efforts by state authorities to employ violence, perpetrate massacres, and commit other crimes against humanity and human rights violations. This violent and cruel process has recurred throughout history, notably during the periods of 1905-06, 1918-21, 1948-53, and 1987-91. As a result, today there is no single Azerbaijani left in Armenia.

Armenia systematically destroyed Azerbaijani graveyards, cultural and religious sites. Ethnic cleansing has also had a profound negative impact on the intangible cultural heritage. The Azerbaijani traditions, customs, way of life and social ties have been disrupted, the community stated earlier.