On September 30, the OSCE Human Dimension Conference began in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Human rights, fundamental freedoms and conflicts in the OSCE region were discussed at the annual meeting attended by ambassadors, diplomats and official representatives of 57 countries.
Discussions held on October 7 were held on the topic “Fundamental freedoms: freedom of assembly and freedom of religious belief”. At the beginning of his speech, the head of the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights Dr. Ahmad Shahidov, who closely participated in the discussions, responded to the US ambassador’s critical speech about Azerbaijan and said that Azerbaijan is actively fighting against religious radicalism and terrorism. Azerbaijan, which has actively supported US anti-terror measures in Afghanistan, is facing sanctions from Washington today, and this is a double standard.
Then, responding to the Armenian speaker’s speech about the Armenians living in Karabakh, human rights defender Ahmad Shahidov said that the Azerbaijani side is not against the return of Karabakh Armenians to their homes. Armenians born in Karabakh can return as citizens of Azerbaijan. At the same time, Azerbaijanis expelled from Western Azerbaijan should return to their ancestral lands and historical justice should be restored: “If we are talking about historical justice and raise the issue of human rights, then we should recognize the right of ethnic Azerbaijanis expelled from Zangezur in different years to return to their lands. Double standards are unacceptable in this matter.”
