The ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijanis as a historical achievement

2025-01-15 16:33:00, Aktualitet CNA

The ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijanis as a historical achievement

Ambassador of Azerbaijan, Anar Huseynov

As is well documented, the conflict that Armenia launched in 1987 has caused immense suffering
to Azerbaijanis. Over a million Azerbaijanis were forcibly displaced from their homes as a result
of Armenia’s aggressive policies. Unlike other conflicts, where displacement occurs as an
unintended consequence, the displacement of Azerbaijanis was the result of Armenia’s deliberate policy of
ethnic cleansing and territorial expansion.

The root cause of these atrocities lies in the racism deeply rooted within the political structure
of Armenia. Racism has been normalized and institutionalized as state policy in Armenia.
Armenia carried out total and systematic ethnic cleansing in the Armenian territory and the Azerbaijani lands that
were under occupation for almost three decades. In addition to the expulsion of Azerbaijanis, Armenia engaged in
the widespread destruction of Azerbaijani cultural heritage, the exploitation of natural resources,
the plunder of public and private property, and the deliberate contamination of
Azerbaijani territories with landmines.
Recently, a video recording of a speech given on July 23, 1993, by Levon Ter-
Petrosyan, the first president of Armenia, was released. In this speech, President Ter-Petrosyan described
the ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijanis by Armenia and the occupied territories of Azerbaijan as a
historic achievement. Thus, he said:

Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh solved a problem that the Armenian people were unable to
solve for 600 years. Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have been completely cleansed of other ethnicities. I
repeat, this was a 600-year-old problem and its importance will be felt by the Armenian people for
another 600 years. Imagine if today there were 180,000 non-Armenians in Armenia – today we would not have
a state. We would not be able to defend Zangezur, defend our northeastern regions,
or guard the shores of Lake Sevan. We would have some new autonomies here. Let us remember that
Azerbaijanis were in the majority in three regions: Vardenis, Masis and Amasia – and they were numerous
in the entire Zangezur area. This problem has been solved .”

This statement is an extraordinary piece of evidence that proves
Armenia’s systematic policy of ethnic cleansing and the dangerous ideology of racial hatred that has fueled its actions
. This policy began not in 1987, with the territorial claims of Karabakh, but decades ago,
when Armenia was given Azerbaijani lands by Soviet Russia. One only has to look at
our map to see just the smallest historical injustice systematically committed against my country.
The statement in question proves the deliberate intent behind ethnic cleansing and occupation, the
state responsibility of Armenia, and a coordinated plan that demonstrates the systematic and
organized nature of these crimes against humanity and violations of peace.

It should be noted that, regardless of who has been in power in Armenia, this policy has remained unbroken
. Levon Ter-Petrosyan's successor, former President Robert Kocharyan, himself a
ruthless warlord, propagated cruel and racist ideas of "ethnic
and genetic incompatibility" between Azerbaijanis and Armenians. Another former president and warlord,
Serzh Sargsyan, openly boasted of his role in the massacre of Azerbaijani civilians in Khojaly in
1992.

The current Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, who once pursued annexationist policies under the slogan Karabakh is Armenia, in fact continues the racist policy of his predecessors, refusing to
allow the return of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia. He and his supporters claim
without any basis that ethnic Armenians were expelled from Karabakh in September 2023. Baku provided
international organizations and the media with a lot of documentary evidence confirming the
voluntary departure of Armenians. However, we still host several dozen Armenians who chose to receive our passports and stay in Karabakh under the constitution and care of Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, the Armenian authorities have no will to consider the return of even a small group of Azerbaijanis to the lands of their ancestors.

The international community must not remain indifferent to such unprecedented
state-level racism and human rights violations. Armenia, as a member of the
United Nations and a party to numerous international human rights conventions, must be
held accountable for these actions.
We are convinced that addressing this issue and returning all refugees to their homes
are essential for justice, stability and lasting peace in our region./ CNA