In Baku, the Western Azerbaijan Community hosted the third international conference titled “Cultural Heritage and the Right of Return: Restoring the Cultural Heritage of Azerbaijanis Displaced from Armenia as a Path to Justice, Reconciliation, and Peace.”
The conference was attended by about 100 foreign guests and local experts from over 60 countries, as well as over 100 experts, scientists, public and government figures from Azerbaijan, and members of the Azerbaijani Parliament, The Caspian Post reports citing AZERTAC.
The meeting began with a screening of a video highlighting the domestic and international activities of the Western Azerbaijan community and the sensitive approach of the National Leader, Heydar Aliyev, and President Ilham Aliyev to the Western Azerbaijan issue.
Adalat Valiyev, Head of the Presidential Administration’s Department for Relations with Political Parties and Legislative Authority, read out President Ilham Aliyev’s address to the conference participants.
In his opening remarks, Aziz Alakbarli, Chairman of the Western Azerbaijan Community and MP of the Milli Majlis and Chairman of the Initiative Group for Return, emphasized that the main mission of the Community is to ensure the right of Azerbaijanis, who have been gradually expelled from Armenia for over 200 years, to return to their homeland in a peaceful, safe, and dignified manner. He also noted that the only way for Armenians and Azerbaijanis to coexist in the context of the peace process with Armenia is to recognize the right of return. He called on the international community to support this just process.
On behalf of the foreign guests, Samil Ayrim, a member of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye and Honorary Member of the Community of Western Azerbaijan, delivered a fraternal message and stated that the deportations suffered by Western Azerbaijanis are a grave crime against humanity and a historical injustice that has disrupted the balance of power in the region. Stressing that Türkiye has always stood by the Azerbaijani people, the speaker drew attention to the dangers posed in the region by the consequences of Armenia's transformation into a monoethnic state and stated that the return is essential for justice and peace.
Following the opening ceremony, seven representatives from Türkiye, the U.S., South Africa, Italy, Lithuania, and Egypt, who actively supported the issue of Western Azerbaijan, were awarded honorary membership certificates of the Western Azerbaijan Community.
The first panel of the conference, moderated by an Azerbaijani MP and ADA University Vice-Rector Fariz Ismailzade, featured discussions on analyzing the legal and moral foundations of the right of return. Speakers included Professor Yaşar Sarı, director of the Heydar Aliyev Center for Eurasian Studies at Ibn Khaldun University, French historian Maxime Gauvin, Mark Nathan Kramer, Research Fellow at Harvard University, and Professor Carlos Uriarte, representing a Spanish pan-European organization, who highlighted the place of the right of return in inter-state relations and the humanitarian obligations imposed on Armenia in light of international experience.
The second panel, dedicated to the protection of tangible heritage, was moderated by Klaus-Peter Ralph Jürgens from the UK. Notable speakers included Muhammad Sohail Sajid, Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan; Carlo Marino, Vice President of the Italy-Azerbaijan Association; Astrid Nadia Rizgita, President of the Indonesian Youth Organization OIS; and American professor Michael Martin Gunther, who shared their views on the legal assessment of the destruction of Azerbaijani heritage in Armenia and the possibilities for its restoration.
The distinguished speakers of the third panel, dedicated to intangible heritage, ashug art, music, folklore, oral memory, cultural traditions, moderated by AVIM representative from Poland, Jakub Korejba, highlighted the role of culture in preserving the identity of displaced communities and ways of introducing the world to the heritage of Western Azerbaijan.
The last panel of the international cooperation, discussed strengthening global solidarity in protecting the right of return, expanding inter-organizational cooperation, and the effective implementation of international legal instruments.
In conclusion, Professor of the International University of Graduates, Honorary Member of the Community of Western Azerbaijan, Hüseyin Işıksal, read out the final document of the conference, after which, on behalf of the Community of Western Azerbaijan, chairman of the Community's Control and Audit Commission, Professor Vahid Novruzov, hailed the outcomes of the conference and expressed his gratitude to the conference participants for supporting the Community's just cause.
In conclusion, the final document of the 3rd international conference on "Cultural Heritage and the Right of Return: Restoration of the Cultural Heritage of Azerbaijanis Displaced from Armenia - as a Path to Justice, Reconciliation, and Peace" was read.
