Western Azerbaijan Community vows to continue efforts for peaceful return

Chairman of the Western Azerbaijan Community (WAC) and Member of Parliament, Aziz Alakbarli, stated that the Community will continue its activities to ensure the peaceful return of Western Azerbaijanis, regardless of ongoing inter-state negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

His remarks came in response to a question from local media about the joint statement signed on August 8 in Washington by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in the presence of US President Donald Trump. That statement was aimed at advancing the normalisation of relations between the two countries, and a peace treaty has already been initialled. Against this backdrop, some online platforms have suggested that the Western Azerbaijan Community might cease its activities.

“The joint statement signed by the esteemed president and the prime minister of Armenia in Washington is a document regulating interstate relations. The activities of the Community are public initiatives aimed at ensuring human rights and the right of return as enshrined in international conventions. In this sense, the activities of the Community have no direct connection with interstate relations and the peace agreement,” Alakbarli explained.

He emphasised that the Community’s mission is focused on the peaceful return of Azerbaijanis to their historical lands: “Our activity consists of the peaceful return to our historical lands. The Community has never opposed the sovereignty or territorial integrity of Armenia. As the president emphasised, we will return to Western Azerbaijan not in tanks, but in cars.”

Alakbarli stressed that the Community supports the peace process and the efforts of the Azerbaijani president: “The Western Azerbaijan Community welcomes the process of normalising relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and supports the president's efforts in this direction. We hope that the promotion of the peace agenda will create conditions for the return of Western Azerbaijanis to their native places. The Western Azerbaijan Community will continue its activities in this area.”

By Tamilla Hasanova