Armenia must recognize the genocide of Armenians in Azerbaijan, the first ombudswoman of Armenia Larisa Alaverdyan told reporters on Thursday.

According to her, Azerbaijan, having adopted the experience of the Ottoman Empire, continued the policy of genocide, and the Armenian authorities should recognize this fact. “This is not about recognizing a new genocide. There are principles that cannot be abandoned, for example, the fact that Azerbaijan was created by the Ottoman Empire to continue its genocidal policy. It is also important to raise the issue of the fact that all the presidents of Azerbaijan have publicly made anti-Armenian statements at the international level. However, we have not yet seen the active work of the Armenian state at the international level,” she said.

According to Alaverdyan, 500 thousand Armenians lost their homeland as a result: 361 thousand arrived in Armenia, 30 thousand went to Karabakh, and over 100 thousand people did not register anywhere.

The human rights activist expressed hope that the upcoming parliamentary hearings will be held, with the involvement of many facts and documents.

As reported earlier, on January 13, 1990, the mass pogroms of the native Armenian population began in the Azerbaijani capital. The Soviet Azerbaijan leadership had officially acknowledged that the pogroms were committed on national grounds.