Azernews.Az

By Gulgiz Dadashova

The Czech Republic becomes the first EU country that has officially condemned Armenia for the massacre of Azerbaijani civilians in Khojaly, and has recognized this as a crime against humanity.

The Foreign Relations Committee of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic unanimously adopted a document condemning Armenia for the Khojaly genocide committed against Azerbaijanis during the 1990s war, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said.

"The document commemorates the victims of the tragedy and expresses condolences to the people of Azerbaijan," he said.

The resolution says the massacre was reported by numerous media outlets and has been declared by Human Rights Watch / Helsinki as a violation by Armenian military units of customary law regarding the treatment of civilians in war zones.

"It was a crime against humanity condemned by numerous governments around the world," the document reads.

"However, the UN Security Council resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and eight hundred eighty-four (1 993), which call on Armenian military units to cease the occupation of the territory of Azerbaijan, remain unfulfilled. The UN General Assembly, the European Parliament, Council of Europe and the OSCE parliamentary assemblies by their respective resolutions supported the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, including Nagorno Karabakh."

The last paragraph of the document says: "The Foreign Relations Committee of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic condemns all instances of ethnic cleansing, massacre and genocide against defenseless civilians, regardless of their place and time of their perpetration. We appeal to fulfill accepted resolutions which condemn all such kind of acts. In this context we still recognize the Khojaly massacre as a crime against humanity, which we condemn and repudiate. Hereby, we commemorate the 21st anniversary of this tragic event and offer our sincere sympathy to the people of Azerbaijan."

With this resolution Czech Republic reaffirmed that it recognizes the Nagorno-Karabakh region as an integral part of Azerbaijan, and Armenia as an invader of this land and guilty of committing a grave crime in Khojaly.

The Khojaly massacre is one of the most heinous and bloodiest events of the 20th century. Late into the night of February 25, 1992, the town of Khojaly came under intensive fire from the town of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by Armenian armed forces. At night the Armenian forces supported by the ex-Soviet 366th regiment completed the surrounding of the town already isolated due to ethnic cleansing of the Azerbaijani population of the neighboring regions. The joint forces occupied the town, which was ruined by heavy artillery shelling.

Thousands of fleeing civilians were ambushed by Armenian forces. Punitive teams of the so-called Nagorno Karabakh defense army reached the unprotected civilians to slaughter them, mutilating and scalping some bodies. In just a few hours, 613 civilians were killed, including 106 women, 70 elderly and 83 children. A total of 1,000 civilians were disabled. 56 people were killed with outrageous brutality, eight families were totally exterminated, and 25 children lost both parents, while 130 children lost at least one parent, in what became the most brutal punishment of civilians during the three years of the conflict's military phase. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 remains unknown.