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Armenia’s First President Admits to Mass Expulsion of Azerbaijanis from Modern-day Armenia

By Gunay Hajiyeva January 12, 2025

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The final phase of the “Armenianization” of Western Azerbaijan occurred in 1988 when over 300,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis were forcibly expelled from their ancestral lands / Courtesy

Renowned Baku-born video blogger Albert Isakov shared footage of a speech by Armenia’s first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, on July 23, 1993, addressing members of the “Yerkrapah” terrorist group following the occupation of the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam.

Isakov shared the footage on his YouTube channel, citing Armenian sources. It is the first time the footage was released online.

It shows Ter-Petrosyan asserting that Armenia would not have gained independence if the expulsion of Azerbaijanis from modern-day Armenia had not begun in 1988.

“Our greatest achievement was organizing our militia. The armed units we formed became the backbone of our army, providing us with significant experience even before Armenia and Azerbaijan gained independence,” he stated. “This movement allowed Armenia and Karabakh to resolve a problem the Armenian people couldn’t solve for 600 years.”

This speech by Armenia’s first president acknowledges that the expulsion of Azerbaijanis was pre-planned and part of Armenia’s systematic ethnic cleansing policy.

At the time, Azerbaijanis were the majority in the Basarkechar, Zangibasar, and Aghbaba districts, and, overall, in the Zangezur region and in many other settlements of modern-day Armenia. They lost their ancestral homes in the wake of last forcible deportation started in the late 1980s.

“Armenia and Karabakh (the region of Azerbaijan) have been completely cleared of other nationalities (referring to Azerbaijanis). I’ll repeat this was a 600-year problem. Imagine if, in 1988, there were still 170,000 people of other nationalities (Azerbaijanis) living in Armenia, we wouldn’t have a state today. We wouldn’t be able to protect our northern and eastern regions or the Sevan (Goycha) area. Moreover, we’d face three new problems. Remember, in three regions – Vardenis (Basarkechar), Masis (Zangibasar), and Amasia (Aghbaba) – Azerbaijanis were the majority. They also made up a significant population in the Zangezur area. The same applies to Artsakh (the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan). Today, the entire territory of Artsakh and even more is in Armenian hands,” Ter-Petrosyan stated in 1993.

He assumed that the resolution of this issue was not a bolt from the blue but a triumph of the “national liberation struggle, and the Armenian All-National Movement with its Yerkrapah self-defense units”.

In his recent talk with local TV channels, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev commented on Ter-Petrosyan’s remarks, noting that the independent Armenian state is, in fact, a fascist state given a 30-year rule by proponents of fascist ideology.

“Consider the racist and fascist statements made by Armenia's first president – they are as ugly as they are dangerous. He portrays ethnic cleansing as something to be proud of, boasting about the expulsion of Azerbaijanis from their historical ancestral lands. This video has most recently emerged,” President Aliyev said.

Islamophobic, Azerbaijanophobic, racist, and xenophobic actions of Armenia and its foreign supporters led to the armed conflict with Azerbaijan and the 30-year illegal occupation of the Karabakh (Garabagh) region, he added.

President Aliyev elaborated that the first president of Armenia admits that Azerbaijanis constituted the majority in Zangezur and three other regions. In addition, dozens of villages were completely populated by Azerbaijanis. In the 20th century, they faced a three-phase deportation leading to dire consequences.

“In November 1920, West Zangezur was severed from Azerbaijan and annexed to Armenia. Two years before that, unfortunately, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic gave away the city of Irevan to Armenia. Following this, our people endured tremendous suffering. Therefore, the time has come for Armenia to create the conditions for Western Azerbaijanis to return to their ancestral lands. Of course, we expect a clear and legally sound position from the Armenian leadership on this matter. For now, they prefer to remain silent, even though we have raised this issue multiple times and await a concrete response from them,” President Aliyev stated.

Over years, Armenia spared no effort to deny the Azerbaijani people's centuries-long presence and cultural heritage in their ancestral lands within modern-day Armenia. Historical sites, cemeteries, mosques, and settlements in Western Azerbaijan, created by Azerbaijanis over thousands of years, were destroyed by Armenians.

The Western Azerbaijan Community (WAC) advocates for the restoration of the rights of ethnic Azerbaijanis expelled from present-day Armenia. Since 1989, WAC has been spearheading efforts to facilitate the peaceful and dignified return of deported Azerbaijanis to their homeland in modern-day Armenia.

Armenia has been blocking a UNESCO mission to investigate the state of Azerbaijani cultural heritage within its territory, clearly aligning with its policy of creating and preserving a mono-ethnic state in a region known for its rich cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity.

Western Azerbaijan to modern-day Armenia

The western edge of Azerbaijan historically encompassed lands inhabited by ethnic Azerbaijanis. However, these lands were included in destructive plans developed by the Russian imperial and Soviet authorities. The city of Iravan (modern-day Yerevan) and the Zangezur region were among the centers of Azerbaijani population and culture before their forcible separation from the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) in 1918 and 1920, respectively.

Iravan was originally inhabited by ethnic Azerbaijanis, whose ancestors established the city. Although Iravan was handed over “willingly” to the newly established Armenian state by the ADR government, historical sources claim that this act was organized and implemented forcibly under foreign pressure.

Zangezur is historically an Azerbaijani region that now forms the southern part of the present-day Armenia as well as a portion of Azerbaijan’s territory.

During the 11th and 12th centuries, Zangezur was part of the Seljuk Empire, which further expanded Turkic-Islamic influence within the region. Subsequently, Zangezur faced invasions from Mongol-Tatar tribes and the Timurid Empire. From the 15th to the 18th century, the region was part of medieval Azerbaijani states, including Garagoyunlu, Aghgoyunlu, and Safavids.

Demographic changes occurred in Iravan and the Zangezur region during the rule of Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union. Under the Russian Empire, Armenians from Ottoman and Iranian territories relocated in massive numbers to the South Caucasus, including Iravan, Zangezur, and other Azerbaijani territories during the 19th century.

Similar population transfers continued from 1904 to 1915, resulting in the relocation of over 260,000 ethnic Armenians to Azerbaijani territories. Protests against these actions were largely disregarded, and approximately 130,000 Armenians were relocated to Azerbaijani provinces such as Iravan and Yelizavetpol (the name of Azerbaijan’s Ganja city during Tsarist Russia's period).

During 1905-1907 and 1914-1921, Armenian armed groups committed massacres in Zangezur, resulting in the deaths of approximately half a million indigenous Azerbaijanis and other local Muslims. During this period, 115 Muslim villages in Zangezur were completely destroyed.

Iravan was ceded to the newly established Armenian Republic on May 29, 1918. Following the subjugation of the ADR by Soviet (Bolshevik) forces on April 28, 1920, a significant part of the Zangezur region was also ceded to the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic on November 30, 1920.

These territorial annexations were facilitated by the Soviet Empire, which forced the Azerbaijani authorities to make concessions. Consequently, Nakhchivan became an exclave separated from the Azerbaijani mainland.

The annexation of Iravan had severe consequences for its indigenous Azerbaijani population and the cultural heritage of Azerbaijanis. In 1916, there were over 373,000 Azerbaijanis living in Iravan. However, according to census records from 1922, only 12,000 Azerbaijanis were registered.

In 1933, the territory of the Armenian SSR was divided into districts, and the name Zangezur was changed to new district names such as Gafan, Gorus, Garakilsa (Sisian), and Mehri.

The final phase of the “Armenianization” of Western Azerbaijan occurred in 1988 when over 300,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis were forcibly expelled from their ancestral lands. This expulsion was accompanied by anti-Azerbaijan sentiments, pogroms, and persecution of ethnic Azerbaijanis in Armenia.

The underlying reason for this ethnic conflict was Armenia’s illegal territorial claims, particularly regarding the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The deportation of Azerbaijanis set the stage for Armenia’s full-scale military attack on Azerbaijan, leading to the First Karabakh War from 1991 to 1994 and the subsequent occupation of internationally recognized Azerbaijani territories.