The Student Scientific Society (SSS) of Azerbaijan University organized a panel discussion with the participation of Afghan Valiyev, member of the Council of Intellectuals of the Western Azerbaijan Community and author of the books “Our material and cultural heritage in the lands of historical Azerbaijan”, “Return to Western Azerbaijan: Our material and cultural heritage in the lands of historical Azerbaijan”, and “Return: Our material and cultural heritage in Western Azerbaijan”. Active members of the SSS attended the event.

The panel discussion, titled “Western Azerbaijan: Historical truths and perspectives of return”, was opened by the Head of the Department of Political and Social Sciences, Doctor of Political Sciences, Assoc. Prof. Elvin Talyshinski, who delivered a welcome speech and introduced the guest. He noted that Afgan Valiyev’s scholarly works provide extensive information on the study and condition of the historical and cultural heritage of Western Azerbaijan. Based on historical facts, these works examine the heritage of Western Azerbaijan, its transformation, and its destruction. They are considered significant for preserving national memory, while presentations and events in this direction contribute to a deeper academic understanding of the topic.

Afghan Valiyev then delivered a lecture titled “The history of Western Azerbaijan: Deportation and return”. The lecture addressed topics such as the armenization of Western Azerbaijan, policies of ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis, historical causes of deportation processes, the destruction of material and cultural heritage, and perspectives on return.

During his speech, he also presented his books, noting that tens of thousands of examples of material and cultural heritage were created by Azerbaijanis in Western Azerbaijan. He stated that many of these were destroyed during the deportations of 1918-1920, 1947-1953, 1987-1991, and subsequent years, while surviving artifacts were appropriated and presented as “Armenian monuments”. Works devoted to the study of the historical and material cultural heritage of Azerbaijanis who were forced to leave their ancestral Azerbaijani lands, such as Yerevan, Goycha, and Zangezur, were prepared based on sources collected from state and private archives in Türkiye, Russia, Georgia, Iran, and various European countries. The trilogy provides a comprehensive study of 532 valuable monuments belonging to the material and cultural heritage of Western Azerbaijan, along with full and detailed information on each of them.

Valiyev further stated that the study of the material and cultural heritage of Western Azerbaijan forms the ideological foundation for the concept of return. Although the monuments were destroyed, their traces remain. “Western Azerbaijan is our historical homeland. It is not only a geographical space but also an ideological space where our national identity, memory, and ancestral traces were formed. The return is not merely ideological but a historical and moral responsibility, and at the same time, it is of strategic importance in terms of preserving national identity, restoring historical memory, and ensuring respect for international law”, he noted.

The event continued with an interactive panel discussion, during which Afgan Valiyev answered students’ questions.

The session concluded with a commemorative photograph.

Public Relations Department