Chair of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sahiba Gafarova has addressed the 13th plenary session Promoting Multilateralism in the Changing Global Dynamics of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly held in Türkiye, Press and Public Relations Department of Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis told News.az.

Chair of Parliament in her address touched upon the issue of refugees who were forced to flee from the territory of Armenia.

The Speaker of the Milli Majlis referred to several historical facts in this regard. For instance, she stressed that the Azerbaijanis formerly resident in Armenia had been driven from their homes even before the outbreak of the conflict.

Besides, Sahiba Gafarova told her audience that historical maps and documents confirm the establishment of Armenia in the as historical Azerbaijani lands, and that Azerbaijanis had lived in those lands for centuries on end. Our own town, historically, too, Irevan was declared Armenian capital in 1918, and in 1920 the Soviets annexed Azerbaijan’s Zangazur and attached it to Armenia. That last move cut Azerbaijan off geographically from her own region of Nakhchivan as well as from Türkiye.

The Azerbaijani populace of those lands were subjected to several waves of deportation throughout the 20th century with the latest of those having occurred before our eyes during 1988-1991. Just like that which was wreaked in Garabagh, in Western Azerbaijan, too, our nation’s historical and cultural heritages were decimated and the towns and villages that had been Azerbaijani by nature and origin were renamed - all to erase all the traces of our legacy over there.

Sahiba Gafarova declared her firm belief that the rights of the Western Azerbaijanis would be restored and that those people would travel back to their native lands.