On October 11, the Western Azerbaijan Community organized an event entitled "Reclaiming Home: Upholding the Right of Refugees to Return" within the framework of the annual OSCE Human Dimension conference held in Warsaw, Poland, the Community told XQ.

At the event held with the participation of OSCE participating states, international organizations, NGOs and experts specializing in the field of human rights, opinions were exchanged on ways to ensure the supremacy of human rights and promote a safe and dignified return as a sustainable solution to the problem of displaced people in the world.

Parvana Valiyeva, a member of the Women's Council of the Western Azerbaijan Community who moderated the event, shared the history of her family's expulsion from Vedibasar. She said that the community, while keeping the painful past of ethnic cleansing and refugee life in its historical memory, recognizes that the way to ensure peace and development in the region is through return and reconciliation.

Erna Yasharevich, a panelist at the event and a representative of the non-governmental organization "Friendship Bridges" operating in Bosnia-Herzegovina, told her refugee story and informed about the negative impact of war and ethnic cleansing on civilians. Mrs. Yasharevich emphasized the need to establish justice for reconciliation and peace. In this sense, she noted the importance of ensuring the right of return and informed about the Balkan experience in this field.

Then, Deputy Chairman of the Western Azerbaijan Community Youth Union, Member of the Milli Majlis Kamal Jafarov informed about the objectives of the Community's activity, the Concept of Return and the measures implemented so far in the direction of the peaceful, safe, and dignified return of the Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia. K. Jafarov stressed that suitable conditions for lasting peace in the region are ripe and called on Armenia to choose a peace agenda and create conditions for the return of expelled Azerbaijanis.

Note that the Armenian side once again demonstrated non-constructiveness and made unsuccessful attempts to prevent the Community from participating in the conference and organizing the said event.

The participation of the Western Azerbaijan Community in the Human Dimension conference, which is the main event of the OSCE in the field of human rights, and organizing a separate event within it is an important event in terms of increasing the international profile of the organization and bringing the right of return to the international agenda.