PRESS RELEASE - Azerbaijanis commemorate the 27th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide

The night from February 25 to 26, 1992, went down in history of Azerbaijani people as a black date. That night, Armenian armed groups supported by military personnel and hard armament of the infantry regiment №366 quartered since the Soviet times in the city of Khankendi, completely devastated the town of Khojaly.

The Khojaly tragedy went down in the history of civilization as a bloody massacre. Committed by the Armenian aggressors against the Azerbaijani people, it led to deaths of 613 people, including 106 women, 83 children, 70 old men. 476 people became disabled. There were 1275 innocent people who were taken hostages, with the fate of over 150 still remaining unknown.

As a result of this act of genocide, several families were completely assassinated, the people were exterminated with unprecedented cruelty, and those taken captives were subjected to ruthless torture. 

That the actions mentioned above were deliberate and intended to completely or partially annihilate the people on the base of their ethnic belonging proves them, according to the international and domestic laws, to be an act of genocide. The evil deed and vandalism committed by the Armenians must be regarded in the same way as the above-mentioned tragedies recognized by humankind as act of genocide.

The Khojaly tragedy became a follow-up to the policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide pursued by the Armenian nationalists and their patrons against Azerbaijani people over almost two hundred years. This hostile policy has subjected our people to uncountable suffering and disasters.

It is an important condition for such severe crimes against humanity not to be repeated in the future.

Ousted from the homelands and scattered at 48 regions of Azerbaijan; today, the residents of Khojaly are living with the hope for fair settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, repulsing the Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan and restoration of territorial integrity of the country. They address the world nations, and international organizations urging them to defend truth and justice, and condemn the genocide committed in Khojaly. 

The Khojaly genocide must not remain unpunished.

More detailed information, including photo and video materials about Khojaly genocide can be obtained from the following web-sites: justiceforkhojaly.org, mfa.gov.az/en/content/795, www.khojaly.ba