BAKU — Official Yerevan must clearly state when Azerbaijanis will be allowed to return to their former places of residence and how their safety will be ensured after their return. These demands from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev were included in a message addressed today to participants of an international conference taking place in Turkey.
“The deep-rooted hatred toward Turkic peoples among the Armenian public, dreams of a ‘Greater Armenia,’ the presence of territorial claims against Azerbaijan and Turkey in the Armenian Constitution, and the denial of the right of return for Western Azerbaijanis unfortunately hinder the establishment of peace.”
According to Aliyev, in addition to renouncing territorial claims against neighboring countries, Armenia must also take steps to “protect the thousand-year-old Azerbaijani cultural heritage and allow the UNESCO monitoring mission to carry out its work on this issue.”
However, the most critical issue, according to the Azerbaijani president, is the relocation—or as Aliyev describes it, the “return”—of his compatriots to Armenia.
“This issue will remain on Azerbaijan’s agenda until that return becomes a reality,” he said. “Of course, security guarantees must also be provided to Western Azerbaijanis returning to their homeland.”
Aliyev already voiced these demands when he organized last December a forum on “mechanisms for the return of Azerbaijanis to their historical homeland” which Baku says covers much of modern-day Armenia described by it as “Western Azerbaijan.” Armenian leaders say that this reference amounts to territorial claims to Armenia.
Aliyev denied that in his latest statement. He claimed that Yerevan’s position on the issue “hinders the establishment of peace.”
The Azerbaijani dictator has set at least two preconditions for signing an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty finalized by the two sides in March: the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh and a change of Armenia’s constitution. He expressed confidence on Tuesday that Yerevan will eventually fulfill both demands.
