Western Azerbaijan Community responds to Armenian Foreign Minister
Baku, January 8, AZERTAC
“Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan made a contradictory statement at a press conference on January 8, rejecting the right of Western Azerbaijanis to return,” the Western Azerbaijan community said in a statement responding to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.
“We would like to emphasize once again that the Armenian government’s attempts to present the issue of Western Azerbaijanis’ return to their homelands as territorial claims and its indignation over the expression “Western Azerbaijan” are absolutely groundless. The expression “Western Azerbaijan” is a term used by Azerbaijanis living in this territory within the framework of their right to self-identification, and it is based on historical facts. The community has repeatedly stated that it respects the territorial integrity of Armenia and wants to achieve return peacefully.
In connection with the unfounded and contradictory claims in A. Mirzoyan’s statement, as well as in the statement of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of July 25, 2023, about the “voluntary departure” of Azerbaijanis from Armenia and “payment of compensation to them”, we state the following:
First of all, it should be noted that compensation means recognition of the offense committed and the losses incurred, which contradicts the claims of voluntary departure. If hundreds of thousands of people really left their homes en masse voluntarily in the cold winter in just two weeks, then why were they offered “compensation”?
Secondly, we categorically refute the claim that the Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia received compensation in any form in exchange for giving up their right to return.
Finally, the Armenian government should know that people have the right to return, regardless of how they left their homeland, and that the Armenian government is committing a crime against humanity by not allowing Western Azerbaijanis to return.
A. Mirzoyan's statement once again shows that the political establishment of Armenia cannot abandon its hatred towards the Azerbaijani people, as it did during the era of Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, and this completely contradicts their false statements about "democracy" and "human rights".
Armenia must respect human rights and international law and ensure the right of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia to return to their homeland in safety and dignity. We demand that the Armenian government stop spreading false claims and engage in a substantive dialogue with our community regarding the legitimate demands of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia,” the Community added.
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