The American-Armenian lawyer Karnig Kerkonian states on Facebook:
The claim that advocating for the right of return of Artsakhi people fueled Baku’s “Western Azerbaijan” narrative is demonstrably false: Karnig Kerkonian
“GET THE HISTORY STRAIGHT. The ridiculous claim promoted by Yerevan that advocating for the right of return of the people of Artsakh somehow created or fueled Baku’s “Western Azerbaijan” narrative is demonstrably false.
That Baku narrative long predates any organized advocacy for the return of Artsakh Armenians. In fact, it predates even the need for any such advocacy. I know this firsthand.
At the Global Armenian Summit in Yerevan on October 28-31, 2022, I warned about the dangers of Baku’s “Western Azerbaijan” campaign and specifically discussed maps of the so-called “Goycha-Zangezur Republic” that Azerbaijani circles were already promoting. In fact, the maps of this Baku-manufactured republic stretch from Lake Sevan to Meghri — and even include the land under the very auditorium in Yerevan where the Summit was being held.
This was nearly a year before the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh. In fact, Baku’s so-called “Goycha-Zangezur Republic” had already opened a representative office in Ankara in September 2022. Yes, I will say that again: the same Ankara being promoted in Yerevan as Armenia’s new security guarantor was hosting a diplomatic office of the so-called “Western Azerbaijan” republic whose territorial demarcations were inside Armenia itself.
Read also
Let’s not rewrite history. Baku’s irredentist claims came well before advocacy for the Artsakh people’s right of return was even necessary. The right of return emerged as a response to the forced displacement of 120,000 Armenians in September 2023. It was and remains a necessary response to the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Artsakh Armenians.
In fact, those urging Armenians to abandon the right of return to Artsakh should consider the implications very carefully. If we surrender the principle that ethnically cleansed Armenians have a right to return to their homes, I assure you that we will find ourselves—in our very own lifetimes—advocating for the right of Armenians to return to their homes in Syunik.
Azerbaijan’s plan of conquest and settlement of Armenian land is fueled by Yerevan’s continued appeasement.”