“The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, made a statement on March 23, 2023, in which he tried to infringe on the right of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia to return to their homes in safety and dignity,” the Western Azerbaijan Community said in a statement.
“The head of the government of Armenia tried to present the topic of West Azerbaijan as a territorial issue. While noting the fact that Azerbaijanis had lived compactly in present-day Armenia until they were expelled from there, we would like to emphasize that the issue of Western Azerbaijan is a human rights matter, and this issue came to the agenda as a result of the Armenian government’s policy of ethnic cleansing and its refusal to eliminate the consequences of this policy.
We emphasize once again that we are lawful inhabitants of the territory called Armenia and it is our absolute and inherent right to return to our homes.
Instead of making slanderous statement on the situation of ethnic minorities in other countries, the Prime Minister of Armenia had better enable unconditionally the return of Azerbaijani inhabitants who were expelled from Armenia, stop the illegal settlement policy implemented in the areas where Azerbaijanis lived, and cease the destruction of Azerbaijani cultural heritage.
The return of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia should be ensured within the framework of a legally binding international agreement with proper verification and guarantee mechanisms. Enabling the return of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia to their homes and ensuring their individual and collective rights there is the necessary condition for sustainable peace in the region,” the statement says.