Western Azerbaijan Community demands Human Rights Watch to stop racial discrimination against Azerbaijanis

The Western Azerbaijan Community has issued a statement condemning Human Rights Watch’s annual report on the state of human rights worldwide over racial discrimination against Azerbaijanis.

The statement says that an organization that positions itself as a human rights defender has released a report which includes slander in a section dedicated to Azerbaijan and raises the issue of creating conditions for the return of Armenians, Caliber.Az reports.

However, in the section about Armenia, Human Rights Watch fails to mention the return of Azerbaijanis who were expelled from the country, the community stressed.

"We consider this to be discrimination against Azerbaijanis on ethnic and religious grounds by Human Rights Watch. Racial discrimination is unacceptable under any circumstances. But when such discrimination is committed by an organization that presents itself as a defender of human rights, it delivers a double blow,” the community said.

The community’s statement further says: “It is worth noting that shortly before this report was published, a recording of a speech by former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan was circulated, in which he confirmed that ethnic cleansing against Western Azerbaijanis is a state policy of Armenia. In connection with this, we have sent an appeal to Human Rights Watch. We demand that the organization and the forces behind it cease using human rights as a political tool, put an end to racial discrimination against Azerbaijanis, and stop supporting the policy of ethnic cleansing in Armenia."

By Khagan Isayev