Baku, January 9, AZERTAC

“The claims made by the Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan at a press conference on 8 January 2025, regarding the Western Azerbaijan Community and the deportation of Azerbaijanis from the territory of present-day Armenia in general, are a falsification of history by Armenia,” said Aykhan Hajizada, Spokesperson of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as he commented on claims by Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan about the Western Azerbaijan Community during a press conference.

“The suppression of Azerbaijanis in their historical lands along with the massive relocation of Armenians to the South Caucasus during the last two hundred years is a historical fact. As a result of this step-by-step plan, Azerbaijanis were expelled from the territory now called Armenia - from their native historical lands, where they lived for thousands of years, and were subjected to mass murders and massacres, thousands of historical and cultural monuments and settlements belonging to Azerbaijanis were destroyed, and more than 2000 toponyms were altered. Only during the years of 1948-1953, about 150 thousand Azerbaijanis were forcibly and massively deported from their historical lands in the territory of present-day Armenia. Furthermore, in 1987-1991, another deportation of Azerbaijanis from their historical and ethnic lands took place, as a result of which more than 250 thousand Azerbaijanis were expelled from Armenia. There are historical and legal documents proving all these actions.

The claims of the Armenian Foreign Minister that compensation was paid to Azerbaijanis during the last deportation and that they voluntarily left the territories are also completely unfounded. The fact that 216 Azerbaijanis were killed as part of the ethnic cleansing policy in 1987-1991 alone proves once again how painfully and bloody the ethnic cleansing policy against Azerbaijanis was carried out.

Thus, it is deceitful to present Azerbaijan’s use of the phrase of Western Azerbaijan Community as a “violation of international law” and a “territorial claim.” The denial of the right of Azerbaijanis to return to their lands by Armenian officials under various pretexts is a vivid example of their goal of “Armenianization” of Azerbaijani territories and preventing the return of Azerbaijanis in every way.

The opinions expressed and policies carried out by the former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who presented the presence of Azerbaijanis in the region as a problem and stated that ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis and the occupation of Azerbaijani territories was “the solution to a 600-year-old problem,” as well as of other succeeding Armenian leaders, have demonstrated that racist-chauvinist national ideology has always constituted the ideological orientation of Armenia.

Moreover, Armenia’s narrative about international law is ludicrous, considering that even following the 2020-war they refused to withdraw armed forces from Azerbaijan, continued its militarization policy and illegal activities in the territories resided by Armenians, and obstructed the process of reintegration of Armenians.

The Armenian side, instead of trampling on the rights of representatives of the Western Azerbaijan Community forcibly evicted from their native lands in the current territory of Armenia and preventing dialogue with them by all means, should respond to calls of this community for dialogue with Armenia for peaceful, dignified and safe return. The practical indicator that Armenia has given up the concept of “ethnic incompatibility” and the “title of a monoethnic state based on ethnic cleansing,” and has chosen peaceful coexistence, can only be through creating conditions for the members of the Western Azerbaijan Community to return to their historical lands,” Hajizada added.