Baku, March 19, AZERTAC

The Western Azerbaijan Community has commented on the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, dated March 18, in which it made yet another attempt to infringe on the right of the Azerbaijanis expelled from this country to return to their homes.

AZERTAC presents the statement of the Community: “First of all, we would like to emphasize that the issue of Western Azerbaijan, which is exclusively a matter of human rights, appeared on the agenda as a result of the policy of ethnic cleansing pursued by the Armenia’s government and its refusal to eliminate the consequences of this policy. Our organization was founded in 1989 and since then we have consistently fought for the realization of our right to return.

It is universally known that Armenia has become a mono-ethnic state. Armenians, who only accounted for a minority in this territory until recently, now make up over 99 percent of the population. This situation has emerged as a result of notorious ethnic cleansing. The allocation of a certain number of quota seats in the parliament to the very small number of remaining people of ethnic minorities in Armenia for decorative purposes is an unsuccessful attempt to cover up ethnic cleansing and ongoing racial discrimination.

We would like to underscore again that we are lawful inhabitants of the territory called now Armenia and are fully entitled to return to our homes. Regardless of the nature of its relations with Azerbaijan, Armenia must unconditionally enable the return of the lawful inhabitants expelled from its territory.

We call on the Government of Armenia to put an end to its policy of illegal settlement of the parts of its territory previously inhabited by Azerbaijanis and the destruction of our cultural heritage, and to eliminate this wrongdoing.

We renew our call on the Government of Armenia to create conditions for a peaceful, safe and dignified return of the Azerbaijanis who are lawful inhabitants of that area, within the framework of a legally binding international agreement containing verification and guarantee mechanisms, and to respond to our calls for dialogue to that end.

Finally, we would like to reiterate that our demand for a peaceful return to our homes cannot be misconstrued or interpreted as detrimental to the territorial integrity or sovereignty of Armenia.”