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European Parliament members adopt statement on Khojaly genocide

26 February 2018 13:04 (UTC+04:00)
European Parliament members adopt statement on Khojaly genocide

By Rashid Shirinov

Members of the newly created Friends of Azerbaijan Club in the European Parliament adopted a statement on the 26th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide.

The Azerbaijani parliament told Trend that the initiative on adopting the statement was launched by Andrejs Mamikins, who is a member of the European Parliament from Latvia, member of the European Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, and co-chair of the Friends of Azerbaijan Club.

The statement is the first document the European Parliament adopted on Khojaly massacre. It says that the Azerbaijani people faced a ruthless crimecommitted in Khojaly on February 25-26, 1992, as a result of which 613 civilians, including 106 women, 63 children and 70 old people were killed, hundreds of people were seriously injured and 1,275 civilians were taken hostage. The document extends condolences to relatives of those killed in the Khojaly massacre and notes that the recurrence of such a bloody crime as the Khojaly tragedy is inadmissible.

Commenting on the statement, co-chairman of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee Javanshir Feyziyev said that the adoption of the statement is an important step taken by international organizations in assessing the genocide committed by Armenians in Khojaly 26 years ago.

"The European Parliament regularly comments on developments in both Europe and the world as a whole, and it is, of course, important that its 22 members focus on the Khojaly genocide, a political assessment is given to the committed crimes, and those who lost their lives and their families are remembered," Feyziyev said.

The statement on the Khojaly genocide was signed by 13 of 28 countries and 6 of 8 political groups of the European Parliament, including its vice-president.

A member of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and Azerbaijani MP Azar Karimli, in turn, said that the statement is the result of an intensive and purposeful work carried out with members of the European Parliament after restoration of relations and another success of Azerbaijan’s parliamentary diplomacy.

Noting that the statement was put forward by members of the newly created Friends of Azerbaijan Club in the European Parliament, Karimli stressed the importance of creating a friendship group within the European Parliament.

The MP added that the document will become a basis for more important documents to be adopted in future, and it is important to work more closely and to establish closer ties with international parliamentary institutions.

The statement on Khojaly genocide was signed by 22 members of the European Parliament, including Andrejs Mamikins (Latvia), Norica Nicolai (Romania), Iveta Grigule-Peterse (Romania), Ramona Manescu (Romania), Javier Nart (Spain), Tomas Zdechovský (Czech Republic), Hannu Takkula (Finland), Ivo Vajgl (Slovenia), Angelo Ciocca (Italy), Lorenzo Fontana (Italy), Marc Tarabella (Belgium), Cristian-Silviu Buşoi (Romania), Alberto Cirio (Italy), Boris Zala (Slovakia), Aldo Patriciello (Italy), Yana Toom (Estonia), Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Bulgaria), Franz Obermayr (Austria), Valentinas Mazuronis (Lithuania), Heidi Hautala (Finland), Angel Dzhambazki (Bulgaria) and Salvo Poglieze (Italy).

Armenia committed the terrible genocide in Khojaly within its evil policy of occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and separating the region from Azerbaijan. For over two decades, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, but they have not been enforced to this day.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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