The Diplomat
The 29th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide was commemorated last Thursday by the Embassy of Azerbaijan, headed by its Head of Mission Anar Maharramov, within the framework of the ‘Justice for Khojaly’ Campaign.
After a minute’s silence was observed in memory of the victims of the genocide, in his speech, the Azerbaijani Ambassador noted that “this massacre was the result of a policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide against our people by the Armenian aggressors”. Again, Anar Maharramov stressed to the audience that the Khojaly massacre, one of the bloodiest massacres of the 20th century, was perpetrated by Armenian armed forces in the early morning of 26 February 1992 in Khojaly, the Nagorno-Karabakh Region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the attack, 613 people were killed, including 106 women, 63 children, 70 elderly people; 1,275 civilians were taken hostage and 155 people disappeared.
Ambassador Maharramov noted that, “it is regrettable that such a serious crime against humanity has not yet received a legal assessment at the international level.” “The main objective of the international Justice for Khojaly campaign is to convey the truth about this genocide to the international community and to commemorate the victims of the attack,” said the Azerbaijani ambassador.
Present at the event was Turkish Ambassador Cihad Erginay, who emphasised that the Khojaly massacre was a crime perpetrated not only against the Azerbaijani people, but against all of humanity; he stressed the importance of bringing the perpetrators to justice. Citing Azerbaijani National Leader Heydar Aliyev’s motto “One Nation, Two States” which has become an ideology and symbol of the relations between the two brotherly countries, Cihad Erginay stressed Turkey’s unconditional support for Azerbaijan.
