Western Azerbaijan Community

“Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and other officials continue to demonstrate the aggressive and hypocritical policy of their country in their statements these days by speculating on human rights of Armenians living in Azerbaijan.

We recall that the Armenian government expelled hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis who once lived compactly in this country and consistently destroyed their cultural heritage. The Armenian government does not respond to the calls of the Western Azerbaijani Community, which is the legal representative of those people, to start a dialogue on ensuring their right to return,” the Western Azerbaijan Community said in a statement on this issue.

It says further that as if Armenia’s demonstrative refusal to secure the right of the Azerbaijanis it expelled from its territory to return was not enough, it now exhibits, under the pretext of protecting the human rights of the Armenians living in Azerbaijan, an approach that runs counter to the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan and represents interference in the internal affairs of another state. Armenian officials continue to voice the ludicrous idea of creating some international mechanism regarding the Armenians living in Azerbaijan.

“The Armenian government's failure to respond to the Western Azerbaijan Community's call for dialogue and attempts to create an international mechanism for separatist elements who have rejected the Azerbaijani government's invitation to dialogue and are clearly opposed to the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan show the destructive nature of this country’s policy.

The Western Azerbaijan Community demands that the Armenian government abandon its policy that contradicts international law and human rights, and create conditions for the expelled Azerbaijanis to return to their homes in a safe and dignified manner within the framework of international verification and guarantee mechanisms,” the Community's statement says.