Western Azerbaijan Community urges Armenia not to hamper return of Azerbaijanis

Chairman of the Western Azerbaijan Community Aziz Alakbarli has issued a statement urging Armenia not to hamper the return of Azerbaijanis to their ancestral lands.

The statement is as follows:

“While speaking about the right of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia to return there, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan showed an unconstructive position that is contrary to basic human rights at the press conference today,” the community told APA.

“The prime minister's attempt to refute the fact of the expulsion of Azerbaijanis from Armenia causes regret. Pashinyan is well aware that the Armenian government expelled hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis in 1988 on the basis of ethnic discrimination, using physical violence and depriving them of education, medical and social services. The fact that the vast majority of these people fled within a very short period of time (November 24 - December 5, 1988) testifies to the systematic crime,” the statement said.

“The expulsion of Azerbaijanis from Armenia is a crime against humanity. We would like to tell the Armenian prime minister that the denial of a crime against humanity is a continuation of this crime. Moreover, it is noteworthy that the prime minister considers our right to return only in the context of the territory.

Pashinyan noted that the compact living of an ethnic group envisages only a territory. This is a reason why Armenia has become a mono-ethnic territory. This also testifies to the territorial claims of Armenia and the occupation policy towards Azerbaijan,” the statement said.

“We would like to emphasise once again that the return to our houses in accordance with the international mechanisms of guarantees and verifications is our inalienable and fundamental right. Our right of return is not a topic for discussion. As the Community, we would like to exercise our right to a peaceful return through dialogue. We once again call on the prime minister to respect the rule of human rights and stop obstructing our return,” the statement said.