There is no "Western Azerbaijan" in Armenia - Pashinyan

Azerbaijan calls approximately 60-70 percent of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia “Western Azerbaijan.” There is no “Western Azerbaijan” in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told journalists from Turkey who arrived in Armenia as part of a media tour organized for Turkish media outlets, according to Agos newspaper.

Referring to the issue raised by Baku regarding the alleged return of Azerbaijani refugees, the Prime Minister emphasized that Azerbaijan is actually raising an issue that it calls “Western Azerbaijan.”

“Azerbaijan invites us to discuss the issue of ‘Western Azerbaijan,’ calling 60-70 percent of the territory of the Republic of Armenia ‘Western Azerbaijan.’ We say that there is no ‘Western Azerbaijan’ in Armenia,” Pashinyan said. He added that if they want to look for Western Azerbaijan, then these are the regions of Kazakh, Aghstafa, , Getabey, Kelbajar, Lachin, Zangelan Kubatli of Azerbaijan. The Prime Minister emphasized that one can tell what Western Azerbaijan is by looking at the map. He added that Nakhchivan can also be considered Western Azerbaijan geographically.

“They are trying to place this under the logic of humanitarian issues, calling on us to discuss some issue. I reiterate, they call 60 percent of the sovereign territory of our country ‘Western Azerbaijan.’

And therefore, such an issue is not up for discussion for us. It cannot be up for discussion for any country,” he said.

Speaking about the topic of refugees, the Prime Minister recalled the document of November 9, which mentions the return of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions. There are refugees in Armenia and the Diaspora from Nakhchivan, Baku, Sumgait, the adjacent regions of Nagorno-Karabakh,Ganja, etc.

According to the Prime Minister, the Armenian side believes that such statements by Baku are simply territorial claims against Armenia, and therefore, Armenia cannot discuss this issue.