Why is the question of the return of Western Azerbaijanis being raised right now?

Baku/19.01.23/Turan: The community of Western Azerbaijan, based on the Azerbaijan Refugee Society, which has been operating since 1989, has become active in recent days. The appeal of the community to the government of Armenia and international organizations dated January 12 gives grounds to talk about this. Of course, there is no doubt that the community is supported by the government of Azerbaijan. The meeting of President Ilham Aliyev with members of the community on December 24 clearly demonstrated this support. By the way, recently the expressions Western Azerbaijan and Western Azerbaijani have been frequently used in the lexicon of the president and government officials.

Putting this policy on the agenda now causes considerable interest and many questions.

These questions are answered by Kocheri Nagibeyli , the chairman of the Center for the Deportation of Western Azerbaijanis, answered these questions in the  “Difficult Question” program.

According to him, the ethnic Turks of Western Azerbaijan (the former Armenian SSR), having been subjected to genocide and deportation in 1988-1991, wanted to settle in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“However, the slaves of the Soviets - Vezirov, and then Mutallibov did not allow us to settle in Nagorno-Karabakh. But if we had settled there then, it is quite possible that this problem would not have dragged on,” Nagibeyli said.

Although the actualization of the issue of the return of Western Azerbaijanis is late, this process can only be welcomed, he said.

“We, immigrants from Western Azerbaijan, support this step of the president. We believe that the actualization of the issue of the return of Western Azerbaijanis to their homeland is correct and necessary. This is the land of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers. Their graves are there,” says Nagibeyli.

Concerning the issue of collecting and destroying the passports of refugees from Western Azerbaijan in 1998 and granting them the status of citizens of Azerbaijan, Nagibeyli said that these actions were certainly in the hands of the Armenians.

“These passports were direct evidence of the genocide and deportation, but they began to be collected and destroyed. In addition, we were not allowed to keep records of refugees from Western Azerbaijan, they prevented this in every possible way,” he said.

According to Nagibeyli, the head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev and the head of the Department for Social and Political Affairs of the Presidential Administration Ali Hasanov were behind these decisions.

“I think this step is wrong. But despite this, we, the people deported from Western Azerbaijan, are still alive and we are living witnesses,” he said.