Baku: The Center for Social Research conducted a survey on Western Azerbaijanis, the Center told APA. Noted that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, said at a press conference held on January 8, 2025: "We have never hidden that Azerbaijanis lived in Armenia during the Soviet period and left Armenia with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijanis left Armenia in a civilized manner, without any forced displacement. 100 families sold their apartments, more than 12 thousand families exchanged their apartments with Armenians living in Azerbaijan. More than 160 thousand people received compensation from the Armenian government."
According to Azeri-Press News Agency, a few days before the Foreign Minister's statement, the statement of former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan on July 23, 1993, which proved the exact opposite of this statement, was made public during a meeting with members of the terrorist organization "Yerkrapa" regarding the policy of ethnic cleansing against Western Azerbaijanis.
The results of the opinion poll conducted by the Center for Social Research among Western Azerbaijanis revealed that the position of the Armenian government and the statements of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the press are false, the opinions expressed distort regional realities, the statement about the voluntary separation of Azerbaijanis from the territory of present-day Armenia contradicts real facts, and they are victims of the policy of ethnic cleansing, based on the results of a sociological survey.
Taking into account the aforementioned statements of the Armenian Foreign Minister, the survey participants were asked whether they were paid any compensation by the Armenian government when leaving the historical lands. None of them reported receiving compensation. 98.5% of the survey participants stated that they did not receive any compensation. 1.5% had difficulty expressing an opinion.
Thus, the survey results can be assessed as factual evidence that the claims of more than 160 thousand Azerbaijanis receiving compensation from the Armenian government are false. Noted that the extensive results of the survey will be made public.
The surveys were conducted among 1,000 West Azerbaijanis on January 9-12, 2025. The sampling frame was determined proportionally to the population distribution in the historical regions and cities where they previously lived. The computer-assisted telephone interview method was used to collect data. The surveys were conducted on a voluntary basis and anonymity was ensured. Respondents were informed that the results would be used in a generalized form for research purposes only. Based on the number of respondents covered by the survey, the error coefficient of the results is 3% with a 95% confidence interval.