Western Azerbaijan Community expresses serious concern on pro-Armenian hearings in US

Western Azerbaijan Community has issued a statement expressing serious concern about the recent hearings of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, regarding Armenians living in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.

The statement reads as follows:

First of all, we emphasize that it is very important to have a detailed and accurate understanding of the situation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Human rights violations committed by Armenia against Azerbaijanis are on a very large scale and have no analogues.

In 1987-1991, Armenia expelled all Azerbaijanis from its territory, then used force against Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and occupied 20 percent of its territory. As a result of all this, around 300,000 Azerbaijani refugees from Armenia and 700,000 Azerbaijanis were displaced from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Armenia killed thousands of peaceful Azerbaijanis, destroyed cultural and religious monuments and cemeteries belonging to Azerbaijanis both in Armenia and in the occupied territories, looted private and public property and civil infrastructure of Azerbaijanis. Armenia destroyed hundreds of cities and other residential areas of Azerbaijan. Armenia also planted more than one million mines in the previously occupied territories. Its sole purpose is to make it difficult for Azerbaijani IDPs to safely return to their homes after liberating those territories from the decades-long destructive military occupation of Armenia.

We are deeply concerned about the obvious bias shown by the people who spoke at the hearings of the said Commission. We were disappointed to learn that some of them have close ties with Armenian-oriented interest groups. This raises serious questions about the objectivity and fairness of the hearing. It seems that the audition was just to fulfill a predetermined script. The essence of the speeches made at the meeting was fundamentally flawed and did not accurately reflect the real situation. The hearing was based on white lies and anti-Azerbaijani rhetoric widely used by some circles, which has no factual basis. The confusing fabrications presented during the hearing served to present only a one-sided perspective, ignoring any facts, nuances or historical context of the situation.

In particular, the repeated use of religiously biased expressions by speakers is deeply disturbing. The Tom Lantos Commission aims to promote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes the equality of all people regardless of religion. By using vocabulary that suggests religious bias, the Commission has failed to uphold its goals, values and principles.

We were deeply disappointed by the disregard for the rights of Azerbaijanis, especially those expelled from Armenia. This calls into question whether the Commission truly values the rights of all persons, regardless of ethnicity or religion. It also appears that the Commission does not care about the rights of certain groups of people after they are evicted from their homes. This discriminatory and dangerous approach has undermined the credibility and impartiality of the hearing.

All this clearly shows that the hearings of the Commission have, in fact, served certain nefarious interests rather than human rights. Although we recognize that every state and group is free to defend its interests, we consider it unacceptable to abuse such a noble idea as human rights, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for such nefarious purposes.

In addition, the hearing undermines ongoing peace efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Thus, what was expressed in the hearing continues the approach of inciting hostility and creates an additional obstacle to reconciliation.

The hearing was a sad chapter in the history of the Tom Lantos Commission. Against the background of the commission's obvious shortcomings and biases, we call on this body to make meaningful efforts to recognize and protect the rights of more than one million ethnic Azerbaijanis who have suffered from ethnic cleansing and other crimes against humanity committed by Armenia. It is very important for the Commission to recognize the fundamental rights of Azerbaijanis forcibly expelled from Armenia.

We call on the Commission to actively engage in sincere dialogue with our Community to correct its shortcomings and eliminate the injustices faced by Azerbaijanis. Specifically, we call on the Commission to make efforts to ensure the basic rights of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia to return safely and with dignity, which is also stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.