(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Sabina Mammadli read more The Khojaly genocide is proof of the courage and fortitude of
Azerbaijani people, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov
said.
He made the remarks during a commemorative event dedicated to
the 31st anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, organized by the
Foreign Ministry.
According to Azernews, the ministry's leadership and employees,
as well as heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Azerbaijan,
and media representatives, attended the event.
The participants discussed the events that preceded the Khojaly
genocide, its consequences and got acquainted with the exhibition
stands.
Speaking at the event, Bayramov noted that 31 years ago, the
Armenian armed forces, with the support of the 366th motorized
rifle regiment of the former USSR, entered the city of Khojaly,
killing hundreds of Azerbaijani civilians, including women,
children and the elderly. Having honored the memory of the victims
of the Khojaly genocide, the minister said that the Khojaly
genocide, imprinted in the national memory of the Azerbaijani
people, is not forgotten.
The official underlined that the atrocities committed during the
military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, the war crimes
against the civilian population of the Azerbaijani cities of Ganja,
Barda, Terter during the Second Karabakh War are based on Armenia's
policy of ethnic hatred and racial discrimination against
Azerbaijanis.
'Despite the military-political provocations committed by
Armenia, which impede the process of peace and normalization in the
post-conflict period, as well as steps aimed at manipulating the
international community, Azerbaijan is determined to promote a
peaceful agenda aimed at establishing peace and security in the
region,' the minister added.
Furthermore, he stressed that Armenia continued its atrocious
crimes during the 2020 second Karabakh war in Azerbaijan's Barda
and Ganja after Khojaly and if now wants peace, then it must
abandon such an aggressive policy.
Then, the performance of the Azerbaijan State Pantomime Theater
dedicated to the Khojaly genocide was presented under the title
'Khojaly - it was.'
The Khojaly genocide is seen as the pinnacle of the systematic
crimes and atrocities committed by Armenia against
Azerbaijanis.
As a result of the Khojaly genocide, 613 Azerbaijani civilians,
including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly people were
killed. Simultaneously, 487 civilians were seriously injured, and
1,275 people were kidnapped. The fate of 150 hostages, including 68
women and 26 children remains unknown.
During the genocide, 56 people were killed with extreme cruelty,
with their heads peeled off, various limbs severed, eyes removed,
and pregnant women's bellies pierced with bayonets. As a result,
eight families were utterly destroyed, 25 children lost both
parents, and 130 children were orphaned.
Relevant documents adopted by the parliaments of Mexico,
Pakistan, the Czech Republic, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Honduras,
Sudan, Guatemala, and Djibouti recognized the Khojaly massacre as
an act of genocide. The parliaments of Romania, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Serbia, Jordan, Slovenia, Scotland, and Paraguay, as
well as the executive and legislative bodies of 22 U.S. states,
have strongly condemned the Khojaly tragedy as a massacre. The
Organization of Islamic Cooperation recognized Armenia as an
aggressor and the Khojaly tragedy as genocide.
Azerbaijan annually commemorates the victims of the Khojaly
genocide on February 26.
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