BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 22. The Western Azerbaijan Community has issued a statement exposing the recent speeches of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, clearly demonstrating the hypocrisy of the Armenian government and the abuse of such a high concept as human rights to realize its territorial expansionist plans, Trend reports.
According to the statement, Armenia forcibly expelled all Azerbaijanis from its territory and seeks to erase the traces of their presence on their ancestral lands by desecrating and destroying Azerbaijani cultural heritage, shrines and cemeteries.
“Despite our constant calls for dialogue and efforts to return home in safety and dignity, Armenia refuses to discuss this issue, demonstrating absolute disregard for our rights," the statement said. "By continuing to prevent the return of Azerbaijanis expelled from its territory, Armenia is trying to brazenly abuse the topic of human rights in relation to ethnic Armenians living in the Karabakh economic region of Azerbaijan."
Armenia's claims, being inherently unfounded, are in the nature of an encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the statement noted.
"Armenia, recognizing the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan only conditionally, reveals its true intention and thereby tries to preserve opportunities for attempts at separatism," the statement pointed out. "Such behavior of Armenia is a clear violation of international law and completely contradicts the principles reflected in the OSCE recommendations on national minorities in interstate relations."
In the statement the community reminded the OSCE recommendations, which, along with other issues, note that in cases where states show a greater interest in minorities abroad than in their own, or actively support a certain national minority in one state, neglecting the interests of the same minority in other countries, the motives and sincerity of their actions may be called into question.
"The fact that Armenia ignores our right to return, refuses to accept international missions to facilitate this process and assess the state of the Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Armenia requires universal condemnation," the statement authors said. "The international community must reject the policy of Armenia, based on the 'no ethnic minorities - no problems' approach, which it openly pursues on its territory."
Moreover, according to the authors, Armenia grossly misuses rhetoric on the issue of human rights to implement its territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
"The Western Azerbaijan Community calls on the international community to condemn the actions of Armenia precisely for this essence. We demand from Armenia to fulfill its obligations [within the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] to ensure the return of exiled Azerbaijanis to their homes in Armenia in safety and dignity and to put an end to opportunistic and hypocritical abuses of human rights," the authors noted.
"Continuing our fight for justice and the right to return, we reiterate our commitment to peaceful dialogue. We call on the international community to support and show solidarity with us in our work for the sake of a future that respects and protects the rights of all people, regardless of their ethnicity or religion," the statement authors concluded.