Baku-backed conference set for U.S. Congress

PanARMENIAN.Net - On June 24, an international conference titled “Right of Return and Self-Determination: Double Standards and Selective Approaches” is scheduled to take place in a building of the U.S. Congress, organized by the Baku Initiative Group, according to Minval.az .

According to the publication, the event is being presented as the first discussion of its kind in the U.S. Congress dedicated to allegations of “ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijanis by Armenia.”

The organizers state that the conference will bring together specialists on refugee and minority rights, human rights advocates, experts in international law, representatives of diaspora organizations, members of what are described as “affected communities,” and civil society institutions.

According to the announcement, participants will discuss the issue of international recognition of what they describe as the fundamental right of “hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis forcibly expelled from their historical lands in Armenia” to return safely, voluntarily and with dignity.

The agenda is also expected to include discussion of what organizers describe as the appropriation and destruction of Azerbaijani cultural, religious, and historical heritage on the territory of Armenia, as well as possible international legal assessments of those claims.

The Baku Initiative Group was established in 2023. The organization has organized various events related to France, Belgium, the Netherlands and India, and presents itself as a body advocating against French colonialism. It has also been linked in media reports to unrest in certain French overseas territories.