Ombudswoman raises issue of protecting rights of Azerbaijanis deported from W.Azerbaijan

The Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva, participated in the international symposium on "Deportation and its psychological effects on society, especially women," held in Ankara by the Grand National Assembly of Turkiye and the Turkiye-Azerbaijan Friendship, Cooperation, and Solidarity Foundation.

During her presentation at the event, the Ombudswoman gave detailed information about the facts, such as the ethnic cleansing policy against the Azerbaijanis living in Armenia at different stages of history, the destruction of the historical and cultural heritage belonging to the Azerbaijanis in those areas, the destruction of cemeteries, the settlement of Armenians in those regions, and the changing of place names. At the same time, despite the fact that 75 years have passed since the deportation of Azerbaijanis from their native lands, it was noted that the policy of hatred and intolerance towards Azerbaijan is still being supported in Armenia.

?The Ombudswoman said that Armenia carried out ethnic cleansing, deportation, and genocide policies against Azerbaijanis at different times, killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, and took successive steps to realize the ideology of Armenia without Turks. Noting that women and children were also seriously affected by this policy, S. Aliyeva stated that these crimes in Armenia are based on ethnic hatred and pointed out that two reports on hate crimes and hate speech against Azerbaijanis were prepared by the Ombudsman institution and addressed to relevant international organisations.

The Ombudsman of Azerbaijan said that as a result of the 44-day Patriotic War and the anti-terrorist operation carried out in September this year, Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity has been restored, those areas have been cleared of separatist terrorist groups, and conditions have been created for the return of internally displaced persons to their native lands.

At the same time, S. Aliyeva touched on the importance of Turkiye's moral support to Azerbaijanis during the war and post-war period and reminded that the Chief Ombudsman of the Republic of Turkiye carried out fact-finding missions in the liberated regions where the civilian population was targeted by Armenia, as well as in the territories destroyed during the occupation.

The Human Rights Commissioner pointed out that the indifferent attitude and double standards of international organisations towards such crimes cause massive and gross violations of human rights and freedoms, hinder peacebuilding, create an environment of impunity, and most importantly, lead to the recurrence of such cases.

In conclusion, S. Aliyeva said that the Armenian side should create conditions for the return of Azerbaijanis who were deported to their homeland, and compensation should be paid for the damage caused to them.

During the event, a video about the policy of hatred against Azerbaijanis prepared by the Office of the Ombudsman was shown.