Western Azerbaijanis should return to their native places peacefully – I. Aliyev

Baku/26.12.22/Turan: On Saturday, the head of state visited the new office of the "Community of Western Azerbaijan", where he made important statements.

The "Community of Western Azerbaijan" became the legal successor of the public association "Azerbaijani Refugee Society", which had been functioning since 1989. On August 3 this year, the association was renamed the "Community of Western Azerbaijan", and a new charter of the community was approved.

Former Minister of Education Misir Mardanov became the chairman of the supervisory board, deputy Aziz Alekperli ---------the chairman of the department, deputy Malahat Ibrahimli ----the head of the women's council, deputy Akhliman Amiraslanov --- head of the Council of Elders.

To remind, "West Azerbaijan is our historical land. This is confirmed by numerous historical documents, historical maps, and our history. Unfortunately, the Armenians leveled and destroyed our historical and religious monuments there, just like in Karabakh. They wanted to erase the historical heritage of Azerbaijanis, but they failed to achieve their objectives because there is history, there are documents, there are maps," Aliyev said.

He called it a "big mistake" to agree in 1918 to the incorporation of the city of Irevan into Armenia – on the site of the historical residence of Azerbaijanis. In 1920, the Soviet government handed over to Armenia another historical region of Azerbaijanis – Zangezur, Aliyev noted.

In 1948-1953, Azerbaijanis were deported from Armenia en masse, which became "another crime of the Soviet government" against the Azerbaijani people, Aliyev continued.

In the late 1980s, the Soviet government committed another crime when the Azerbaijani population was finally deported from Armenia. By that time, only Azerbaijanis lived in 170 villages of Armenia. Azerbaijanis made up the majority in nearly 90 villages, they lived in more than 300 cities and villages in general. 

Recall that all of them were forcibly expelled from Armenia over 3 years, many were killed and tortured. The last to be deported were residents of the village of Nyvedi – in August 1991. "The occupation of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur has become our next tragedy," Aliyev said. He expressed confidence that the "Community of Western Azerbaijan" informs the world community about all this.

When it comes to the ongoing conflict with Armenia, he pointed out that in September the Azerbaijani army was forced to conduct a military operation on the border, which made it possible to strengthen the security of Azerbaijan "with due regard for the strengthening of revanchist forces in Armenia."

Touching upon the current situation on the Lachin road, he said that a slanderous campaign against Azerbaijan has unfolded in Armenia and a number of foreign countries, and "another provocation is being prepared against us at the UN, and next week they will try their best."

"This is our legal right. Our natural resources are being exploited, our natural resources are being exported. Those who exploit these natural resources, according to international law, are criminals, because this is our territory, and this illegal activity must be stopped," Aliyev said. He stressed that no pressure on Azerbaijan will change Baku's position.

Returning to the topic of Western Azerbaijanis, Aliyev noted that their rights should be restored and they should return to their native lands. "Speaking of this, I assume that another hysteria will start in Armenia again, saying that Azerbaijan has come, occupied us and so on. No. We want to do this peacefully. We want to ensure these rights peacefully. All conventions recognize this right. So to achieve this, we must be more active, including on international platforms," Aliyev stressed. -06B-