Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev once again emphasizes the right of Azerbaijanis to return to Armenia and the importance of preserving cultural heritage.
Radar Armenia spoke to Beniamin Poghosyan, a senior expert at the “APRI Armenia” analytical center, on the topic.
-In your opinion, what does this statement mean, and to what extent is it feasible?
-There is nothing new here. President Aliyev has been clearly speaking about both the Western Azerbaijan concept and the “right of return” of Azerbaijanis for at least years, starting, perhaps, from 2022, and more intensively after the ethnic cleansing of September 2023. There are assessments in Armenia that this talk is just Azerbaijan’s policy to prevent discussions on the right of return of Artsakh Armenians. In my opinion, these two issues should not be put on the same plane; therefore, to say that Azerbaijan says “Western Azerbaijan” so that we do not say “Artsakh”, or says, when we talk about the right of return of Artsakh Armenians, are issues of different categories.
However, even in this case, the Armenian government has repeatedly clearly stated that the right of return of Artsakh Armenians is not on its agenda, and the only problem is the settlement of their socio-economic issues in the country. For example, the document signed with the EU on December 2 also states that the EU will help Artsakh Armenians integrate into Armenian society. However, even though the Armenian government is taking zero steps towards discussing the right of return of Artsakh Armenians, Aliyev continues to insist on the right of return of Azerbaijanis with the same intensity. A month ago, at the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, he even gave instructions to scientists to prove that Armenians have been in this region for “2 days”, Azerbaijanis are indigenous, etc. There is a clear strategy in Azerbaijan to raise this issue more. Their goal is to resolve this issue in their own way.
-How realistic is that statement by the Azerbaijani President?
-It depends on how powerful Azerbaijan will be and how it will force Armenia to submit. If 10-15 years ago they asked how realistic it is that there will be no Armenians in Artsakh, the answer would be that such a probability is close to zero. Even after November 2020, the likelihood of this was close to zero. But it became a reality. Therefore, it would be wrong to say percentage figures now. But the problem is not the probability, but the fact that Azerbaijan has a strategy and will do everything to make it a reality. If Azerbaijan can force Armenia, then it will become a reality.
Lilit Abrahamyan
