Western Azerbaijan Community

In his speech at the high-level meeting of the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council on February 24, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan voiced opinions that contradict human rights concepts and hinder peace efforts in the region, trying to justify a group of war criminals whose trial is currently ongoing in Azerbaijan. First of all, it should be noted that Minister Mirzoyan’s attempt to undermine justice for those accused of this crime on the anniversary of the Khojaly genocide committed by his country on February 25-26, 1992, is disrespectful to the memory of the victims of the genocide.

The head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry is raising the issue of Armenians who have moved from Azerbaijan and is trying to involve the UN human rights mechanisms in this matter, which is another hypocrisy on his part. Armenia’s main task in the field of human rights is to ensure the peaceful, safe and dignified return of the residents of Western Azerbaijan, who were forcibly expelled from their current territory by Armenia.

We would like to draw the attention of the Armenian government, which often refers to the Almaty Declaration of 1991, to the fact that after signing this declaration, Armenia expanded its attacks on Azerbaijan, occupied 20 percent of the country and subjected almost 800,000 Azerbaijanis to ethnic cleansing. Peace is not achieved by referring to any document, but by concrete steps. The rapid arming of Armenia and the failure to fulfill its obligations to create conditions for unimpeded transit do not serve peace.

All this once again proves that the Armenian government is not interested in ensuring peace and respect for human rights. As the Western Azerbaijan Community, we demand that the Armenian government stop its unconstructive policy, create conditions for the return of ethnically cleansed Azerbaijanis and take appropriate steps to establish peace.