Western Azerbaijan Community rejects Armenia’s “fabricated” history of expulsions

The Western Azerbaijan Community has unequivocally denounced the June 23, 2025 statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, which responded to the resolutions adopted by the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) regarding the Western Azerbaijan issue during its session held in Istanbul on June 21–22.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry’s statement asserted that Azerbaijanis in Western Azerbaijan allegedly left Armenia voluntarily, were compensated by the Armenian government, and that Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Armenia is adequately protected. The Western Azerbaijan Community, representing Azerbaijanis forcibly expelled from Armenia, categorically rejects these claims as entirely false, a statement by the community said, Caliber.Az reports.

“The forcible expulsion of Azerbaijanis from Armenia, carried out with the direct involvement of the Armenian authorities and through the use of force, is a well-documented fact,” the statement reads. It highlights the tragic circumstances surrounding the last major wave of deportations in late November and early December 1988, when approximately 300,000 Azerbaijanis were compelled to abandon their homes and flee to Azerbaijan within a single week. The process resulted in the deaths of 216 Azerbaijanis.

The community further condemned the characterization of these events by former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who reportedly described the expulsion of Azerbaijanis as a “historical success.” The community denounced this as irrefutable evidence that the forced deportation was an official state policy of Armenia.

By Vafa Guliyeva