(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Laman Ismayilova read more Lithuanian military journalist Ricardas Lapaitis has shown
Armenia's atrocities throughout photographs.
His photo exhibition Justice for Khojaly opened its doors in
Vilnius with the support of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Lithuania, Azernews reports.
At the opening ceremony, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Lithuania
Tamerlan Garayev stressed that Khojaly genocide went down in
history as one of the biggest tragedies of the 20th century. The
tragedy is the bloodiest page in the policy of ethnic cleansing and
genocide carried out by the Armenian aggressors against the
Azerbaijanis.
'There are tragedies in the history of every country. However,
this is an event that the world has kept silent about. We thank the
people, including Ricardas Lapaitis, who covered this tragedy. Do
you know the number of those killed in Khojaly? I will not say the
exact number, since dozens of people are still not found, their
fate is unknown,' said Garayev.
The ambassador expressed his gratitude to Ricardas Lapaitis for
his high civil position and one of the few foreign journalists who
in those years reported the truth about the Karabakh war and the
Khojaly genocide.
He stressed that the Azerbaijani people liberated their lands
after almost 30 years of Armenian occupation.
Ricardas Lapaitis shared his memories of the First Karabakh War,
spoke about the consequences of the atrocities in Khojaly, as well
as how he had to cover the realities of those events in the context
of the anti-Azerbaijani information campaign.
Back in the years of the First Karabakh War, he was preparing
objective reports from the front, helping to break through the
information blockade of Azerbaijan and to bring the truth about the
events to the world community.
The military journalist arrived in Azerbaijan immediately after
the Khojaly tragedy, visited many places of hostilities, and he can
rightfully be considered a veteran of the Karabakh War.
He was remembered by his comrades and colleagues as a brave
warrior and a principled journalist, for whom honor and justice are
above everything in the world. Recall that Ricardas Lapaitis was
awarded by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev the Dostluq
Order and the medal of the Republic of Azerbaijan 'For Merit in
Diaspora Activities' from the State Committee for Work with
Diaspora.
In 2014, a documentary film 'The Endless Corridor' was shot
based on his memoirs - about a trip to the city of Aghdam in 1992,
which tells about the Khojaly genocide. An international group of
documentary filmmakers from 14 countries worked on the film for
five years. The main director and producer of the film are
Mindaugas Urbanavičius and Aleksandras Brokas (Lithuania).
The second producer was the winner of the prestigious 'Grammy
Award' Gerald Rafshun (USA). The film was dubbed in English by the
famous British actor, Oscar winner Jeremy Irons.
The film was shown in more than a hundred countries around the
world and translated into many foreign languages, and was awarded
nominations at prestigious international film festivals.
In the film, Ricardas Lapaitis had the opportunity to talk with
the survivors, learn heartbreaking stories about how the elderly,
women and children of Khojaly escaped along the endless corridor
from the bombing and massacre of Armenian militants, losing their
relatives and friends.
The filmmaker also talks to the organizers and perpetrators of
the genocide - the Armenian military commanders, who talk about
their ruthless attack strategy.
Books, booklets, brochures and materials on the Khojaly genocide
prepared by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, as well as CDs from the
films 'Endless Corridor' were also presented as part of the
commemorative event.
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