AZERBAIJANIANS-NATIVES OF ARMENIA DEMAND AUTONOMY STATUS IN THEIR "HISTORICAL MOTHERLAND"
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Oct 31 2006
The unity "Return to Western Azerbaijan (Armenia)" has held a
conference the day before, during which it clarified its position
for some issues.
As the Baku "Zerkalo" newspaper reports, one of the Organization’s
demands is "return to their historical Motherland ", i.e. to Armenia.
"Why a 60-70-thousand Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh can
be given autonomy but half-million Azerbaijanians in Armenia –
no? We think that the issue of autonomy is to be considered in
parallel, that is, status of NKR Armenians must be such as we shall
have here, in Armenia", the Head of Organization, Rizvan Takhirov
said. However, the Organization’s demands are not limited to the claims
to RA authorities. The leaders of the "Return" have problems with
Azerbaijan authorities as well, which refuse to officially register
the Organization. The Organization members suppose that giving a
status of a "legal" structure will help them to fulfill the main
task, that is, assistance to the compatriots in their return to the
"historical Motherland". Moreover, the "returners" propose to create
funds to accumulate the means from Caspian gas recovery, mining of
copper and natural resources and to distribute these means between
Azerbaijan’s citizens at the end of each year.