“Armenia must express a clear position on the issue of when and under what conditions Western Azerbaijanis will be able to return to their ancestral homeland. We expect the Armenian leadership to receive representatives of the community to discuss this issue,” Aliyev said in a written statement to participants of a conference on the subject held in Turkey.
“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 strongman 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.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian indicated last month that he will try to enact the kind of constitutional change that is sought by Baku.
Pashinian’s domestic critics maintain that his appeasement policy only encourages Aliyev to demand more Armenian concessions that would prelude Armenia’s very existence as a viable state. They have also decried his refusal to raise in peace talks with Baku the right of safe return of Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population that fled the region following Azerbaijan’s September 2023 military offensive.