News - The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reiterates claims about ‘million refugees’ and demands ‘return to Armenia’

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has once again raised the issue of "a million refugees" and their "right to return to Armenia." This recurring but baseless assertion was voiced by Aykhan Hajizade, the press secretary of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. Following lengthy rhetoric about protecting the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh residents, whom Azerbaijan claims not to have targeted or to have targeted ‘in compliance with international law’—despite widespread media coverage showing the destruction of Stepanakert and other Artsakh towns—the Foreign Ministry spokesperson has shifted the narrative to ‘a million refugees.’ "Until now, no one has called to protect the rights of almost a million Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons, including their right to a safe and dignified return (...) We also hope that Armenia, following this call from the UN representative, will not deny the rights of Azerbaijanis, expelled en masse from the current territory of this country, and will create conditions for dialogue in order to ensure their right to return to their homes," stated the Foreign Ministry representative. This signals Azerbaijan's intention to assert claims over what it considers ‘originally Azerbaijani’ lands. Notably, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson did not address the hundreds of thousands of Armenian refugees from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (AzSSR) and their rights, nor did they acknowledge the rights of the thousands of Armenians fleeing Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.