"Return to Western Azerbaijan" festival-congress is held in Nakhchivan

On June 21, the "Return to Western Azerbaijan" festival-congress, jointly organized by the authorized representation of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Nakhchivan State University and the West Azerbaijan Community, started its work in the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan.

                   The festival-congress participants first visited the monument of National Leader Heydar Aliyev in the center of Nakhchivan and laid flowers in front of it.

                   Visitors to the Heydar Aliyev Museum were informed about the exhibits reflecting the life and activities of the Great Leader.

                   The official opening ceremony of the "Return to Western Azerbaijan" festival-congress was held in Zangezur National Park, Batabat plateau.

                   Colonel Abdulla Gurbani, a personal pensioner of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, scriptwriter and host of the Victory Parade held in Baku on December 10, 2020, declared the event open, and the elder Deda Gorgud gave his blessing. There are three bonfires that are a symbol of the holiday, surrounded by the Batabat plains of the Oguz province.

                   Then the composition "Victory" was presented. Separately, the heroes of the Army of the General Army, who passed the victory road to Shusha, created the Victory Flag, which was pinned to Shusha and displayed in the Victory Parade.

                   The memory of our martyrs was commemorated with a minute of silence, and the National Anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan was played accompanied by a military band.

                   The "Victory March" dedicated to the great victory we achieved in the anti-terrorist measures of 2023 was performed.

                   Nakhchivan State University Student Theater Studio presented the composition "Derelayaz".

                   A video showing memorable moments from the "Return to Western Azerbaijan" festival-congress held in 2023 was shown.

                   Fuad Najafli, authorized representative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, made an opening speech at the plenary session of the festival-congress. Welcoming everyone at the "Return to Western Azerbaijan" festival-congress, Fuad Najafli said that under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the victorious Commander-in-Chief Mr. Ilham Aliyev, ending the 30-year occupation of Azerbaijan in 2020, and securing the sovereignty of our state in its entire territory on September 19-20, 2023, created real opportunities for the restoration of the rights of our compatriots who were deported from Western Azerbaijan. On December 24, 2022, in accordance with the tasks defined by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev during his meeting with a group of intellectuals from West Azerbaijan, the concept of returning to West Azerbaijan was adopted in our country, and the implementation of concrete measures in this direction was started. The next festival-congress "Return to Western Azerbaijan" held in Nakhchivan will be an integral part of the work done in this field in our country, and will also create an opportunity to look again at the injustices committed against our people.

                   The authorized representative noted that after the "Gulüstan" and "Turkmenchay" agreements signed at the beginning of the 19th century, the basis of the deportation policy of Azerbaijanis was laid with the mass transfer of Armenians to the lands of Azerbaijan. Especially in the years 1905-1906, 1918-1921, 1948-1953 and 1987-1991, deportations and genocides were carried out against our people. It goes without saying that the deportation policy was accompanied by the destruction of our historical and cultural heritage, our monuments were destroyed, ancient Azerbaijani toponyms were replaced by fake and fictitious names, and the policy of mono-ethnic statehood and ethnic cleansing was openly implemented. In the 1970s and 1980s - during the first leadership of our national leader Heydar Aliyev, these processes were prevented, and our people were not subjected to further deportations and ethnic cleansing. However, in 1987, the departure of the Great Leader from the leadership of the Soviet Union was the beginning of the next bitter fate of our compatriots living in Western Azerbaijan, and in 1988-1991, the last and most terrible stage of the deportation of Azerbaijanis from Armenia took place. At that time, only Azerbaijanis lived in more than 170 villages in Armenia, Azerbaijanis were the majority in about 90 villages, as well as in big cities. Our compatriots living in those villages and cities were forced out of Armenia for 3 years, subjected to genocide and torture.

                   The authorized representative said that today, under the leadership of the country's President Mr. Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan is a state that creates and dictates new realities in the region. The position of independent Azerbaijan and its powerful LEADER is based on peace, international law and historical justice. The concept of return to Western Azerbaijan is realized according to these three principles. Everyone has the right to live in their ancestral lands, and this right is enshrined in international conventions. It is for this reason that our people, who raised the right to live in Zangezur, Yerevan and other ancient Azerbaijani lands before the international community, are sure that as a continuation of the Great Return to Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, the return to Western Azerbaijan will be realized under the leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Muzaffar.

                   Pointing out that a rich program has been prepared for the "Return to Western Azerbaijan" festival-congress, Fuad Najafli said that the speeches and discussions at the plenary and section meetings will be effective in achieving the common goal.

                   Minister of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan Emin Amrullayev pointed out another peculiarity of organizing this year's festival-congress in Batabat plateau, one of the charming corners of Azerbaijan. He said that only a few kilometers away from this charming place where the festival is organized, there are West Azerbaijani villages where our compatriots used to live. In other words, this year's festival brings us closer to Western Azerbaijan both spiritually and geographically. Emphasizing that this important event played the role of a social and cultural discussion platform dedicated to the topic of return to West Azerbaijan, the Minister of Science and Education noted that the return to West Azerbaijan is a national issue and each of us should do our best in this direction. Because this is a matter of human rights of thousands of our compatriots who were deprived of their native homes, places of worship, and cultural monuments. For this purpose, the "Return to West Azerbaijan" Olympiad held among schoolchildren will be continued, a series of educational events will be held among students, the Forum of Young Teachers' Return to West Azerbaijan will be organized, and the granting of grants promoting scientific research dedicated to West Azerbaijan will be considered.

                   The Minister of Science and Education congratulated the winners of the "Return to Western Azerbaijan" Olympiad and thanked everyone who contributed to the organization of the festival-congress.

                   Rector of Nakhchivan State University Elbrus Isayev emphasized in his speech that during the last deportation of Azerbaijanis from their ancient ancestral lands located in the territory of Armenia, about 300 thousand compatriots from more than 50 thousand families were forcibly expelled from 300 settlements, more than 200 of our compatriots were brutally murdered, more than 400 people were injured, many houses and properties were burned, and those who were not burned were Armenians. was extorted without compensation, more than 300 mosques, shrines, shrines, and more than 500 cemeteries were wiped out. The total material damage caused to the refugees expelled from Armenia in 1988 is more than 20 billion US dollars, and according to international assessment standards, after 37 years, today this figure reaches 1 trillion US dollars. The amount of moral damage to our compatriots is immeasurable. These historical tragedies were not given a legal and political assessment in time. Only the National Leader of our people, Heydar Aliyev, gave a legal and political assessment to this historical injustice and tragedies, and in this regard, on December 18, 1997, he issued "On the mass deportation of Azerbaijanis from their historical and ethnic lands in the territory of Armenia in 1948-1953", "Genocide of Azerbaijanis" on March 26, 1998, and "The Armenian Genocide" on August 22, 2001. "On solving the settlement problems of Azerbaijanis displaced from their historical lands in the territory of Armenia as a result of the ethnic cleansing carried out by the nationalists" signed decrees. Since these dates, the scientific analysis of events and the formation of objective political relations have been ensured.  

                   Chairman of the Board of the West Azerbaijan Community, MP Aziz Alakbarli greeted everyone on behalf of the community he leads.  spoke about the successful results of the first festival-congress. Aziz Alakbarli evaluated the festival-congress as a report to President Ilham Aliyev, the idea author of the Return to West Azerbaijan Concept, and our people, and drew attention to the work done in the past period in the direction of the implementation of the upcoming tasks.  stated that  The idea of returning to West Azerbaijan for the first time  brought to the international level,  dozens of letters and appeals were addressed to many countries and institutions of the world, politicians, 225 statements of the community were accepted. Today, seven official documents of the West Azerbaijan Community have already been distributed as an official document of the UN in all official languages ​​and among all member states of the international organization. For 200 years, he was expelled from his homeland by Armenians.  Confidence was created among the refugees who were already losing hope of returning, our people quickly organized village-by-village, district-by-district around this idea, communities were formed in 24 districts and 277 settlements of Western Azerbaijan.  Representations in 41 districts of the Republic of Azerbaijan are provided with headquarters.  Today, the return to Western Azerbaijan is not only a matter of Western Azerbaijanis and our 10 million compatriots living in the Republic of Azerbaijan. This is the issue of the 60 million Azerbaijanis of the world and, in many cases, the entire Turkic world.  This is the right of our compatriots based on international law. This is the will of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev to us, the task of Mr. President Ilham Aliyev and our filial duty to our fathers and fatherly duty to our children.

                   Aziz Alakbarli fHe wished success to the work of the estival-congress.

                   Member of the Management Board of the West Azerbaijan Community, founder of the West Azerbaijan Research Center, professor Mahira Huseynova expressed her gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for his consistent support in bringing this painful problem to the agenda and in conveying the desire of hundreds of thousands of people to be reunited with their historical homeland from the platforms of various local and international organizations to the world community. evaluated. Mahira Huseynova emphasized that the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, who declared in his conceptual speech during the meeting with West Azerbaijani intellectuals that he will stand by his compatriots from West Azerbaijan at all times, set important tasks before the scientific community with this statement. Mahira Huseynova expressed her belief that the deportations of 1948-1953 and the last 1988-1991 in Soviet Armenia, which was created in 1920 with the support of Soviet Russia, and the tragedy of many thousands of people will be the subject of young researchers.

                   Rector of Turkey's Igdir University, professor Mehmet Hakkı Alma said in his speech that Nakhchivan, the land of Prophet Noah, is an important geography not only for Azerbaijan and the Turkic world, but for the whole world. The Zangezur corridor passing through here increases the importance of Nakhchivan in this sense. Touching on the importance of the Zangezur Corridor, Mehmet Hakkı Alma noted that after the 44-day Patriotic War, which ended with the glorious victory of the Azerbaijani Army, new realities have emerged in the region. As a result of this, the realization of the Zangezur corridor has also come up. This important corridor connecting the Turkic world is not only the development of economic, commercial and logistical relations, but also an important social project that includes the principles of humanism and peace. Zangezur Corridor, which is an important part of the history of Turkish-Islamic culture, plays the role of an important bridge connecting Europe and Asia.

                   The Rector said that a symposium on the Zangezur Corridor was held under the organization of the university he represented, and the results of the symposium were presented to the general public.

                   The winners of the "Return to West Azerbaijan" Olympiad were awarded at the event.

                   It was reported that in 2024, the "Return to West Azerbaijan" Olympiad was held within the framework of cooperation with the Institute of Education of the Ministry of Science and Education, the West Azerbaijan Community, the Ministry of Education of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the Nakhchivan State University. More than 10,000 students from different regions of our country actively participated in the knowledge competition. They demonstrated their knowledge of the history, geography, cultural heritage, toponyms, and historical personalities of Western Azerbaijan. Yesterday, the final stage of the Olympiad was held at Nakhchivan State University with the participation of 36 students.

                   At the congress, which aims to express the support of the scientific and educational community to the process of returning to the ancient homeland, in addition to promoting the culture that our people have formed and kept alive for thousands of years in the lands of Western Azerbaijan, which is our ancient homeland.  researchers working in various universities, academies and research institutes of the country, as well as in Turkish universities, have come together. Scientific innovations made by scientists related to Western Azerbaijan will be heard and opinions will be exchanged at the section meetings held within the framework of the congress, which will continue tomorrow.

                   The State Agency for Science and Higher Education, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Azerbaijan Confederation of Trade Unions, Baku State University, Azerbaijan National Conservatory, Baku Engineering University, Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University, Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts, Azerbaijan University of Languages, West Azerbaijan Research Center, Baku Slavic University, Azerbaijan Tourism and Management University, State Customs Committee, Academy of ANAS, Nakhchivan Department, Nakhchivan Teachers Institute, as well as Universities from sister Turkey participate as partners. Also, city and district executive authorities of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Ministries of Culture and Education participate as partner institutions.