The Western Azerbaijan Community responded to some of the remarks made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in his press statement on Thursday regarding the issue of Western Azerbaijan and the settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

“We emphasize once again that the issue of Western Azerbaijan is not a territorial issue, but a human rights issue. We have repeatedly expressed our respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Armenia. As for the term "Western Azerbaijan", we emphasize that this is a concept based on historical facts, and we use it within the framework of the right to self-identification. The Armenian government should express its position on the essence of the issue, and not engage in polemics on geographical and historical content.

Nikol Pashinyan's restrictive condition that the interstate dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the return of Western Azerbaijanis can be held after the signing of a peace treaty is wrong. Creating conditions for the return of Western Azerbaijanis is Armenia's responsibility under international law and human rights. Regardless of the nature of its bilateral relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia must create unconditional conditions for the return of Western Azerbaijanis - the legal residents of the country now called Armenia. Artificially postponing the dialogue on return after the conclusion of peace or making the return dependent on interstate dialogue is contrary to human rights and does not contribute to achieving peace. We emphasize that the main direction of the dialogue in this regard is the format that will be conducted between the Government of Armenia and the Western Azerbaijan Community.

We call on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to make sincere efforts to establish peace and cooperation in the region, create conditions for the return of Western Azerbaijanis and begin a dialogue with our Community for this purpose,” the Community said.