Western Azerbaijan Community

We condemn the statements about human and humanitarian rights violations in “Nagorno-Karabakh” made by US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Daphne Rand during her speech at the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Conference.

First of all, there is no region in Azerbaijan called “Nagorno-Karabakh”. The use of this term, which is associated with occupation and separatism, by a US official is disrespectful to the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Secondly, since Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty, no human and humanitarian rights violations have occurred in the Karabakh region. It is completely unacceptable to call the refusal of ethnic Armenians to integrate into Azerbaijani society a violation of rights.

Finally, against the backdrop of decades of the US ignoring the massive violations of the rights of Azerbaijanis as a result of Armenian ethnic cleansing and military aggression, this statement is clear evidence of discrimination against Azerbaijanis on ethnic and religious grounds. Over 300,000 Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia during the last deportation have not yet been able to return to their homes. Over 700,000 Azerbaijanis expelled from previously occupied Azerbaijani lands have not been able to return for thirty years. Although these territories have been liberated from occupation, Armenia’s destruction of these places and the laying of millions of mines make it difficult for former internally displaced persons to return to their homes.

We call on the US government to end discrimination against Azerbaijanis, stop attempts to reignite the conflict in the region, and support the return of deported Azerbaijanis to Armenia.