Azerbaijan to establish community of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia

Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan.11 / Trend , A.Huseynbala /

Azerbaijan will establish a community of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia.

An Azerbaijani opposition party is continuing preparations to form the Community of Western Azerbaijanis and Yerevan government-in-exile.

"We decided to prepare a list of western Azerbaijanis - covering all regions - to establish the government-in-exile of West Azerbaijan," the Modern Musavat Party told Trend Jan.11.

According to statistics and archival documents, over 1.5 million Azerbaijanis residing in Armenia were expelled from their historical homelands during the mass deportations of Azerbaijanis from Armenia in the 20th century.

After the establishment of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic by decision of the Armenian Supreme Council, 698 of 940 settlements where Azerbaijanis lived were renamed with Armenian names. But the Armenians were not satisfied. Renaming the settlements happened after Azerbaijanis were completely expelled from the republic. All 91 settlements were renamed with Armenian names according to a decree by Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosian April 9, 1991.

According to information, the decision has been adopted to launch a campaign to collect signatures to return western Azerbaijanis expelled from their historical homelands to these areas, return their lost property, and achieve their recognition as refugees by international organizations.

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