Parliament urged to actively engage in bringing Nagorno-Karabakh truth to world
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijani MP has offered to appeal to the parliaments of several countries in connection with the violent settling of Azerbaijan's occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region by Armenia.
Addressing the autumn session of the parliament, Musa Gasimli said it is necessary to send letters to international parliamentary organizations and each member of the parliamentary friendship groups on the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, forced settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh region, other illegal activities of Armenia and ask to raise these issues in their respective parliaments.
Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s. Long-standing efforts by U.S, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.
As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing and almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled. The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.
Gasimli recalled that in 2015, the Armenians are going to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the so-called "Armenian genocide", which never happened.
"I think that in 2015, the parliament should be very active and inform the world community about the truth on the Khojaly genocide," Gasimli said.
In 1992, the town of Khojaly, the second largest town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intense fire by the Armenian armed forces. 613 civilians mostly women and children were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 people were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent.
Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, and the fate of 150 of them remains unknown. Civilians were shot at close range, scalped, and burned alive. Some had their eyes gouged out and others were beheaded.
The legislative bodies of many countries have adopted resolutions recognizing the crime committed by Armenians against the peaceful people in Khojali as a genocide.