Azerbaijan Claims 12,000 Refugees Will Return; Government Spokesperson Responds

In a statement to PanArmenian.Net, Mane Gevorgyan, spokesperson for the Prime Minister, commented on the return of refugees, referencing a key point in the trilateral statement from November 10 regarding the cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"On December 17, the Azerbaijani State Statistical Committee announced that 12,024 'refugees' would be returning to Stepanakert. We sought clarification on the credibility of this information and the approximate number of returnees," Gevorgyan explained.

When asked how she would respond to Azerbaijan's claim, she stated, "I cannot answer your question. Azerbaijanis have declared that 12,000 refugees will return; how can I respond to that? The trilateral statement includes a point that refugees will return to the territories to which they should return, but regarding the numbers, I am neither in Azerbaijan nor representing Azerbaijan."

When prompted about whether there were any preconditions for the return of refugees mentioned in the trilateral statement, Gevorgyan interrupted, asking if we had read the statement. After confirming our reading, she urged a re-examination, asserting that if we understood the content, such questions would not arise.

We re-read the statement: according to the November 10 trilateral agreement, internally displaced persons and refugees are to return to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas under the control of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Further questions concerning the conditions for refugee return and the possibility of residing in Stepanakert alongside Armenians were not addressed in the trilateral statement. Media outlets will seek clarifications from authorities in Artsakh.

Vahram Poghosyan, spokesperson for the President of Artsakh, commented on the announcement of 12,024 Azerbaijani refugees returning, describing it as “utter nonsense, deliberately spread by the Azerbaijani propaganda machine to exacerbate the already tense atmosphere within our society.”