Western Azerbaijanis' right of return discussed in Washington

An international conference titled "The Right to Return and Self-Determination: Double Standards and Selective Approaches," organized by the Baku Initiative Group (BIG), is being held in the U.S. Congress building on Capitol Hill in Washington.

As reported by Azertag, this is the first event of its kind in the U.S. Congress dedicated to the issue of ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijanis in Armenia.

The conference is attended by experts in the field of refugee and national minority rights protection, human rights advocates, specialists in international law, representatives of diaspora organizations that have been subjected to violence, discrimination, and persecution on ethnic grounds, as well as representatives of civil society institutions and affected communities.

Participants will discuss the right of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis, expelled from their historical lands in Armenia, to a safe, voluntary, and dignified return. In addition, issues of international legal assessment of the facts of systematic destruction, desecration, and appropriation of cultural, religious, and historical heritage belonging to the Azerbaijani people that remains on the territory of Armenia, including toponyms, mosques, cemeteries, shrines, and other monuments, will be discussed.

Furthermore, the event will address issues related to the realization of the right to self-determination of peoples affected by colonialism, in particular the inclusion of the issue of colonies on the UN agenda as territories subject to decolonization.