Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan made a contradictory statement at a press conference on January 8, 2025, denying the right of return of Western Azerbaijanis, this was stated in a statement by the Western Azerbaijan Community, APA reports.
"Let us emphasize once again that the Armenian government's attempt to present the issue of the return of Western Azerbaijanis to their homeland as a territorial claim and its objection to the term "Western Azerbaijan" is completely unfounded. The term "Western Azerbaijan" is a term used by Azerbaijanis who lived in that area within the framework of their right to self-identification and is based on historical facts. The community has repeatedly stated that it respects Armenia's territorial integrity and wants to achieve the return peacefully.
A. Mirzoyan, as stated in the statement of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on July 25, 2023, regarding the unfounded and contradictory claims of Azerbaijanis "voluntarily leaving" Armenia and "paying them compensation", we state the following:
First of all, it should be noted that compensation means an admission of a violation of the law and the occurrence of losses, which contradicts the claim of voluntary departure. If hundreds of thousands of people truly voluntarily left their homes en masse in the cold of winter in just two weeks, why were they offered "compensation"?
Secondly, we categorically deny the claim that Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia received any form of compensation in exchange for waiving their right to return.
Finally, the Armenian government should know that people have the right to return, regardless of how they left their homeland, and the Armenian government is committing a crime against humanity by not allowing Western Azerbaijanis to return," the statement said.
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on TikTok
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on X
