Ali Zulfugaroglu
Azerbaijan “Popular
Front” newspaper,
Elnur Elturk, Azerbaijan, Expert on the Diaspora
The Khojaly genocide is the most horrific massacre mankind has witnessed in recent years. This incident is a grave crime against humanity and mankind. It is necessary for the whole world to be aware of what happened in Khojaly to deter such terrible events in the future. Stemming from this, it is not right to approach the Khojaly genocide only as a massacre of Armenians against Azerbaijanis. The Khojaly genocide is a crime committed against all humanity, and the whole world should make legal and political assessments of it.
This year is the 30th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed an order on the thirtieth anniversary of the Khojaly genocide.
In this order, the precious memory of our compatriots killed during the Khojaly genocide is commemorated with deep sorrow once again on the eve of the thirtieth anniversary of the
tragedy. The document has assigned the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan to develop and implement an action plan regarding the thirtieth anniversary of the Khojaly genocide.
It should be mentioned that the world’s leading media covered the Khojaly genocide at that time.
Washington Post, March 2, 1992: “About 1,000 out of Khojaly’s 10,000 people were killed during an attack by the Armenian army on Tuesday.”
New York Times, March 3, 1992: “Today, new evidence has been obtained about the genocide committed by Armenian servicemen against Azerbaijani civilians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The scalp of women and children was peeled off…
Reuters photographer Frederick Lengan said he saw the bodies of Azerbaijanis loaded into two trucks near Agdam: “Some of them were beheaded, many were burned …”.
Sunday Times, March 1, 1992: “… Armenian soldiers opened fire on Azerbaijanis and bayoneted them. Most of them were children and women. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people are missing and dead. The occupiers killed soldiers and volunteers defending women and children.
Times, March 2, 1992: “Anatol Liven was shot while gathering information about a massacre committed by Armenian troops. As we descended the snow-capped mountains of Nagorno-Karabakh, we saw scattered corpses. Apparently, the refugees were shot while fleeing…
When we returned to Agdam, we looked at the bodies collected by a civilian helicopter. Two old men and a little girl were drenched in blood, and their hands and feet were frozen.
These are extracts from the reportages spread by the world’s leading media about the genocide at that time.
As a result of the Khojaly genocide, 613 Khojaly residents, including 63 children, 106 women, 70 elderly people, were killed, 8 families were completely destroyed, 25 children lost both parents and 130 children lost one parent. 487 people, including 76 children, were wounded by enemy bullets. 1,275 people were taken hostage. The fate of 150 captives, including 68 women and 26 children, is still unknown.
Those atrocities were during presidential terms of Former Armenian Presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan who commanded the Armenian armed forces carrying out all this vandalism. Moreover, unfortunately, they are still kept unpunished.
To date, Mexico, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Peru, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other countries, as well as about 20 US states have officially recognized the Khojaly genocide. In addition, documents related to the Khojaly genocide have been adopted in various countries and international organizations, and this process continues.
We believe that other countries must stand up for justice and should give their legal and political assessment of this act of genocide committed against humanity. Given plethora of evidences in the case, there is no need for further research. This act of genocide took place in front of the eyes of the whole world, and there is enough information about it in the world press.
We wish this crime against humanity not to be repeated again. Therefore, we call on our colleagues around the world to shed more light on this act of genocide and to support justice to win.
