In cars, not in tanks: Envisioning the peaceful return of Azerbaijanis to Armenia

Abstract

At the conference marking the 80th anniversary of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences earlier this month, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev addressed one of the most sensitive issues that remains unresolved between Armenia and Azerbaijan following the settlement of their longstanding conflict over the Karabakh region. He referred to the fate of approximately 300,000 Azerbaijanis who were deported from the present-day territory of Armenia in the late 1980s and early 1990s and who continue to await their return to their historical homelands.