Western Azerbaijan Community slams Belgium's ethnic, religious discrimination against natives of Western Azerbaijan

The Western Azerbaijan Community has strongly condemned the newly formed coalition government in Belgium, accusing it of discriminatory provisions against Azerbaijanis, particularly those from the region of West Azerbaijan.

According to the Community’s statement, after another political crisis lasting seven months in the Kingdom of Belgium, a group of political parties formed a government by signing a coalition agreement on February 1, 2025. However, the document contains destructive and discriminatory provisions against Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

"By using expressions such as 'Nagorno-Karabakh' in the coalition agreement, an attempt was made to undermine Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty. Additionally, the agreement raises the issue of creating conditions for the return of Armenians who left Azerbaijan. However, not a word is said about the return of Azerbaijanis who were forcibly expelled from Armenia. This represents ethnic and religious discrimination against the descendants of Western Azerbaijan by the Belgian government," the statement reads.

The community has strongly criticized Belgium’s political parties for including matters unrelated to their own country in the coalition agreement, accusing them of demonstrating a discriminatory approach that contradicts international law: "Instead of including irrelevant issues to their country and demonstrating a discriminatory approach that contradicts international law, it would be more appropriate for the Belgian political parties to address Belgium's own political system, which is in a chronic crisis."

"We call on the new government of Belgium to stop the ethnic discrimination against Azerbaijanis, refrain from actions that hinder peace in the region, and respect the right of the descendants of Western Azerbaijan to return," the statement adds.

By Khagan Isayev