COMMEMORATION OF THE TRAGEDY OF KHOJALY

Khojaly, the city with population of 7000 people, is situated in Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. It is located on very important strategic way of Aghdam, Shusha, Askeran, Khankendi (cities of Karabakh) and has an airport, the only in Karabakh.

Khojaly was under unbearable hard Armenian blockade since October 1991. The city lived due to the courage and heroism of its population. Local guard forces and militia organized defense of the city. From the second part of February 1992 Armenian daily attacks became unbearable fierce. Over the night from February 25 to 26, 1992 Armenian armed forces implemented the capture of the Khojaly city with the help of hard equipment and the personnel of the 366 infantry regiment of former Soviet Army. The assault of the city began with the two hours firing by tanks, armored cars and guns with the missile. Khojaly was blocked from three sides and the people tried to escape in Askeran direction. But very soon they understood that it was the ominous trap. Near Nakhchivanik village the Armenian armed forces opened the fire on the unarmed people. Just here, in Askeran Nakhchivanik shallow gully so many children and women, elders, frostbitten and weaken in the snow of forests and mountain passes became the victims of the brutality of Armenian armed forces. Armenian persecuted almost every inhabitant of the city and tortured and then killed, burned, disfigured the dead bodies, ravished women and girls; a very great amount of little children were cruelly raped and then killed. The characteristic feature of Armenians is that they usually devised different kinds of tortures for their victims before killing them.

On March 1 when the group of the foreign and local journalists could come to this place, the sight was ungodly terrible. The dead bodies were mutilated. Many of them had the bullet wounds to head and this showed that the wounded people were finished. After medical checkup of dead bodies it was determined that they were scalped, their ears and other organs were cut off, the eyes were put out, their extremities were chopped off, they have numerous of gun wounds, many of them were pressed by hard equipment.

Armenian armed forces with military support of the infantry guards regiment destroyed Khojaly and with particular brutality implemented carnage over the peaceful and defenseless population.

As a result;

613 people were killed, among them;

63 children

106 women

70 elders

8 families were killed completely

25 children lost both parents

130 children lost one of the parents

487 people were wounded, including 76 children

1275 people were hostages

150 people were missing

Actions of Armenian armed forces in Karabakh towards Khojaly peaceful inhabitants during the assault of Khojaly city roughly violate Geneva conventions as well as 2, 3, 5, 9, 17 articles of Human Rights Declaration (adopted by UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948) and Declaration on protection of women and children in emergency and during armed conflicts (declared by UN General Assembly on December 14, 1974).

The Khojaly genocide is comparable to the genocides in Khatin, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Songmi.

The crime should not remain without punishment. Armenian military-political aggression must be condemned by world community. International organizations, parliaments of the world states must give political-legal appraisal of Khojaly genocide-military crime, committed by the Armenian Republic in the Azerbaijan territories.

Parliaments Mexico, Pakistan, Colombia, Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Peru, Honduras recognized the Khojaly genocide and took facts condemning the vandalism.

April 26, 2001, in a written declaration 324, 30 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Norway, Poland and Turkey, said that "26 February 1992 the Armenians massacred the population of Khojaly and totally destroyed the city "and appealed to the Assembly to recognize the genocide.

States Massachusetts, Texas, New Jersey, New Mexico, Arkansas, Mississippi, Ohlahoma, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Connecticut, Florida also recognized the Khojaly genocide.

May 8, 2008 Vice-President of the Russian office of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mrs.Leyla Aliyeva  was initiated international information and the campaign "Justice for Khojaly". The campaign were held in many cities around the world, including offices of international organizations, including the UN headquarters in Geneva.