Azerbaijan has held a minute of silence at 17:00 (GMT +4) to pay
tribute to the Khojaly genocide victims,
Trend reports on Feb.26.
The movement of traffic and pedestrians in Azerbaijan was
stopped for a minute to honor the tragedy victims.
The minute of silence was accompanied by horns of vehicles,
metro cars and ships in the Bay of Baku.
State flags were lowered in Azerbaijani cities and regions, as
well as in the country’s diplomatic missions abroad.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in
1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a
result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied
20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and
seven surrounding regions.
During the Karabakh war, on Feb. 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed
forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops,
stationed in Khankendi, committed an act of genocide against the
population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As many as 613
people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people were
killed in the massacre. Eight families were totally exterminated,
130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. Some 1,275
innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people
still remains unknown.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council
resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh
and the surrounding regions.
