The Khojaly genocide is the bloodiest page in our history
23 Feb 2021
The Khojaly tragedy, engraved in the blood of our people as one of the most horrible pages in the history of Azerbaijan, is another bloody manifestation of the genocides committed by Armenians against our people and the entire Turkic world for centuries.
On the night of February 25-26, 1992, the savage and
depraved Armenian fascists destroyed the ancient land of Khojaly, Azerbaijan,
and brutally killed hundreds of innocent and peaceful people. As a result of
the brutal atrocities of Armenian bandits and terrorists, 613 Khojaly residents
were killed, 1,275 people were taken prisoner, more than 100 residents were
injured and maimed. Of those killed, 106 were women, 63 were children and 70
were elderly. The perpetrators of the genocide killed the people of Khojaly
with unprecedented brutality, burned them alive, skinned them and took out
their eyes.
The city of Khojaly, which is important in terms of
studying the history of Azerbaijan, has an ancient culture, numerous historical
and cultural monuments, was literally destroyed by Armenian vandals. 105 social
facilities, 3,200 individual residential buildings, 14 schools, 21 clubs, 29
libraries, three houses of culture and a local history museum were destroyed in
the city. Tombs, domes and graves of the XIV-XV centuries were destroyed,
cemeteries were destroyed by vandals, all traces of Azerbaijanis in these lands
were erased.
In fact, the people of Azerbaijan have been subjected to
the policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide by Armenian nationalists for the
last 200 years, including during the Soviet era. Our people were expelled from
their historical lands, became refugees and internally displaced persons, and
all this was accompanied by massacres by Armenians. In particular, the Khojaly
tragedy has manifested itself as a continuation and the bloodiest page of the
policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide carried out by Armenian
chauvinist-nationalists against Azerbaijanis in the last two centuries.
National leader Heydar Aliyev said about the Khojaly
tragedy: "This genocide is also a historic crime against all
mankind." It was on the initiative of our national leader that on February
24, 1994, the Milli Majlis adopted a resolution on the Khojaly Genocide Day.
The UN and the world community were called upon to reveal the true nature of
this massacre and the international community to take effective measures
against Armenian terrorism. According to the decision, the bloody Khojaly
events committed by the Armenian aggressors on February 26, 1992 are celebrated
every year on February 26 as the Day of the Khojaly Genocide. Also, according
to the decree signed by our national leader "On declaring a minute of
silence in memory of the victims of the Khojaly genocide" on February 25,
1997, the memory of the victims of the Khojaly genocide is commemorated in our
country on February 26 at 17.00 with a minute of silence.
Over the years, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Ilham Aliyev has purposefully worked to promote the Khojaly genocide in the
world, to convey the truth about the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict to the international community, to recognize Armenia as a state that
supports terrorism and promotes fascism. As a result of the President's
efforts, a lot of work has been done in recent years to introduce the truth
about Khojaly to the world, expose crimes against humanity committed by
Armenian terrorists, publish books and films in foreign languages, raise the
Khojaly issue at various international events. As a result of effective work in
this direction, every time on the anniversary of the tragedy, many countries
around the world commemorate the victims of Khojaly, events are held, photos,
films and materials reflecting the Armenian atrocities are shown. Authoritative
publications around the world publish articles on the tragedy and prepare
programs on television and radio. As a result of the successful foreign policy
pursued by the Azerbaijani state, today the world community has already
expressed its attitude to the genocide committed by Armenians and strongly
condemned the Khojaly massacre.
Yes, the Khojaly genocide creates a bloody wound in the
heart of every Azerbaijani. However, under the leadership of the Supreme
Commander-in-Chief, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the Muzaffar Azerbaijani Army has already
cut off the wound. Azerbaijan, which ended the 44-day war with a historic
victory, recaptured the lands occupied by the Armenians for 5 years and built
fortifications to protect them for about 30 years. The country's territorial
integrity was restored.
