Beniamin Matevosyan: how many Azerbaijanis will Pashinyan welcome to Armenia first?

(The elections are over, and statements from Azerbaijan have grown harsher)

Immediately after the conclusion of the electoral cycle, Baku’s official rhetoric toward Yerevan underwent a sharp shift, once again exposing the real geopolitical threats that Armenia’s current leadership is working hard to ignore. Pashinyan’s propaganda machine predictably keeps silent about the tough, uncompromising demands coming out of Azerbaijan, preferring instead to feed the public illusions about an imminent era of peace. While pro-government media outlets reassure citizens, Aziz Alekberli, chairman of the so-called “Western Azerbaijan Community” funded by the administration of Azerbaijan’s president, is stating openly that Armenia is obliged to create conditions for the safe and mass “return” of Azerbaijanis. This position is being put forward not as a subject for discussion, but as a hard ultimatum to the Armenian side, that entirely nullifies Yerevan’s peace agenda.

It is clear that Pashinyan’s blunt propaganda will continue issuing the same old reassuring talking points and yesterday’s quotes from the Turkic-Azerbaijani tandem, assuring its electorate that the topic of resettling displaced persons has been closed for good. Yet political reality tells a different story: Baku is methodically and consistently playing the “Western Azerbaijan” card, turning it into its primary instrument of pressure on Armenia. In 2023, Ilham Aliyev pragmatically waited for the Yerevan Council of Elders elections to conclude, so as not to undermine Pashinyan’s domestic standing, and only then launched a full-scale attack on Artsakh.

Today, in 2026, the situation is cynically repeating itself along an identical script, confirming that any concession made by Armenia’s leadership only brings the next wave of expansion closer.
A sign of this new wave of pressure was the third congress-festival held in Ordubad under the telling name “Return to Western Azerbaijan.” Speaking at the event, Alekberli emphasized that the return of Azerbaijanis to Armenian territory allegedly aligns fully with international law and fundamental human rights.

In his view, Yerevan must acknowledge this fabricated reality and provide all necessary conditions for a safe, dignified, and peaceful resettlement. In effect, the human rights language serves as cover for the legalization of long-term demographic and territorial expansion aimed at the final dismantling of Armenian statehood under the guise of international conventions.

This aggressive line is actively backed by Azerbaijan’s legislature as well, legitimizing the claims at the highest level. Ziyafat Askerov, deputy speaker of the Milli Majlis, was quick to dismiss accusations of territorial claims against Armenia as unfounded, hiding behind peaceable rhetoric about the desire to live safely on “ancestral lands.” At the same time, he openly acknowledged that the “Western Azerbaijanis” return project is one of the key priorities of Baku’s official foreign policy.

The organization’s activities have long since moved beyond domestic propaganda, actively operating on major international platforms including the UN, where Azerbaijan is attempting to enshrine its historical and moral claims to Armenia’s sovereign territory. While Pashinyan surrenders ground in pursuit of a mythical peace, Baku is laying the legal and demographic groundwork for its next move.

Think about that…