Baku urges int’l trial of Aghdaban genocide perpetrators

Azerbaijani Human Rights Commissioner Sabina Aliyeva has urged international organizations and states to take decisive action to bring the perpetrators of the Aghdaban genocide to justice and to recognize the massacre as genocide and a crime against humanity. In a statement commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Aghdaban genocide, Aliyeva stated that thousands of innocent civilians have been killed and massively exterminated as a result of Armenia’s genocide and ethnic cleansing policies against Azerbaijanis throughout history. She pointed out that one of Armenia’s multiple crimes against humanity was committed in Kalbajar region’s Aghdaban village on the night of April 7 to 8, 1992. She added that village residents were tortured, civilians were massacred in large numbers, and the elderly, children, and women were burned alive. Furthermore, Aliyeva emphasized that the village’s historical, cultural, and religious sites were destroyed as examples of human civilization. Works related to Azerbaijan’s cultural heritage, such as the manuscripts of poet Aghdabanli Gurban and one of the masters of classical ashug poetry Dada Shamshir, were destroyed.- Azer News