Genocide against Azerbaijanis should be given legal assessment: Ombudsman
By Nazrin Gadimova
The genocide against Azerbaijanis in 1918 has still not been given international legal assessment, Azerbaijan's Human Rights Commission (Ombudsman) said.
In a statement released in connection with March 31 -the Day of Azerbaijanis' Genocide-, Elmira Suleymanova said the aim of Armenians and their supporters who carried out a deliberate policy of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and deportation of Azerbaijanis in the past two centuries, was the expatriation of Azerbaijanis from their historical lands and the establishment of a "Great Armenia" on those territories.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, thousands of Armenians have moved to Azerbaijan's historical territories, such as Karabakh, Zangezur, Irevan Province, Nakhchivan, and other areas of Iran and Turkey.
As a result of Armenia's policy of aggression, the Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, since a lengthy war in the early 1990.
"The worst of these bloody events is the genocide against Azerbaijanis carried out on March 31, 1918," the Ombudsman said.
"The massacre carried out by the Armenian-Bolshevik formations in Baku on March 31 and April 1-2 became large-scale, as armed Armenian troops brutally killed civilians. During the massacre, thousands of compatriots in Azerbaijan, including 30 thousand Azerbaijanis in Baku and the surrounding villages, were slaughtered because of their national identity, and mosques and school buildings were destroyed," he added.
During the massacre, Armenians destroyed many historic buildings, including places of pilgrimages, Juma Mosque, Tezepir, and Ismailiyya building, one of the masterpieces of world architecture."
The Armenians destroyed 75 villages of the Shamakhi and 115 villages of the Guba regions, and stole the property of the peaceful Muslim population. Only in the Guba region, the Armenians burned 122 villages, killed 60 men, women and children, and injured 53 people. In general, 700,000 people in Azerbaijan suffered for this genocide.
The statement said under international laws the March 1918 events should be assessed as genocide.
The Ombudsman noted that the world community is gradually starting to support Azerbaijan's fair position and is interested in resolving the problems peacefully and within the framework of international legal norms.
He added that the European Union has repeatedly stated its intentions to actively participate in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, especially where building trust between the sides is concerned.
Suleymanova said the world community has still not given its assessment of this act of genocide.
"Addressing the international community and influential international organizations, we express our confidence that assistance for the termination of Armenia's long-term aggression against Azerbaijan, massive violations of human rights, and peaceful settlement of the conflict through negotiations will be provided," the Ombudsman said.
Suleymanova also encouraged international organizations to support Azerbaijan's fair position and give a legal assessment of the genocide committed against the Azerbaijani people, and expressed confidence that sanctions will be applied against Armenia by relevant organizations, and Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and the rights of hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons will be restored.
The statement was addressed to the UN Secretary General, UN Security Council, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Human Rights Commission, Council of Europe, OSCE, international and European institutions of ombudsmen, Asian Ombudsman Association, International Peace Bureau, Universal Peace Federation, ombudsmen of different states, Azerbaijani embassies in foreign countries and foreign embassies in Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijani Diaspora organizations.