Baku Accuses PM Pashinyan of Misrepresenting Western Azerbaijanis Issue

Baku has accused Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of misrepresenting the situation regarding the peaceful return of Azerbaijanis to their ancestral lands in present-day Armenia.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry responded to PM Pashinyan’s recent article published in Armenian media, refuting his claims on the matter.

PM Pashinyan claimed that the authorities of Azerbaijan are weighing in on a “Western Azerbaijan narrative” to challenge the territorial integrity of Armenia, referring to the Western Azerbaijan Community (WAC), an umbrella organization advocating for the rights of Azerbaijanis expelled from present-day Armenia.

The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan described the Armenian premier’s statement as completely groundless.

“Allegations about the cause and activities of the Western Azerbaijan Community are completely groundless, bearing in mind that the primary goal of this community is to return in a safe and dignified manner to the lands from which they were expelled, based on the right of return established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Status of Refugees, and other important international acts,” the ministry stated.

According to the ministry, PM Pashinyan denies this right under different pretexts, including the misinterpretation of the community's declared goals, which testifies to the cruelty of Armenian policy that led to a country without Azerbaijanis, who once constituted a significant part of the population.

On Monday, the WAC released a statement denouncing PM Pashinyan's remarks, which portrayed the issue of Western Azerbaijanis as a military threat.

“The Prime Minister’s remarks on this topic – particularly the claim that the Community’s fundamental documents allegedly contain territorial demands on 60 percent of Armenia’s territory – are groundless. While recalling that Azerbaijanis used to live throughout all regions of Armenia, including the capital city Yerevan, and at certain point constituted an ethnic majority there, we reiterate that the Western Azerbaijan Community is fighting for the return of Azerbaijanis who were forcibly expelled from Armenia, within the framework of international law, with respect for Armenia’s territorial integrity, peacefully, in safety and with dignity,” the WAC statement noted.

Azerbaijan has consistently supported WAC in its struggle for the peaceful and dignified return of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis who were displaced in the wake of Armenia’s systematic ethnic cleansing. Baku firmly believes that direct dialogue between Yerevan and the Western Azerbaijan Community could be the key to resolving this issue.

In January, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev proposed that Armenia’s Prime Minister meet with representatives of the WAC in Yerevan, as they have expressed their readiness to visit Armenia’s capital.

“Armenia portrays itself as a country pursuing the path of European democracy. Let them demonstrate this visibly. This issue will not be excluded from the agenda until Azerbaijanis can settle in Western Azerbaijan, including in West Zangezur, under secure conditions,” President Aliyev said.

In 1988, 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 the last forcible deportation that started in the late 1980s.

In recently surfaced video footage, dated 1993, Armenia’s first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan asserted that Armenia would not have gained independence if the expulsion of Azerbaijanis from modern-day Armenia had not begun in 1988.

“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,” Ter-Petrosyan said.

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

The 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.