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Elnur Enveroglu

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Every time I watched the film 'The Stab in the Back', released by the director Arif Babayev in 1977, I thought that it is only in films that the murders that took place in the past will one day be brought to justice. However, the detention of the war criminal Vagif Cherkeovich Khachatryan at the Lachin border checkpoint a couple of days ago put an end to all stereotypes in my mind.

Although the Meshali massacre has been folded into a deep archive of history, the criminals involved in this tragedy have not been forgotten yet. V. Khachatryan was one of the Armenian terrorists who actively participated in the mass killing in Meshali village of Khojaly district in the cold winter season of December 23, 1991. On that day, around 7 o'clock in the morning, Armenian terrorist groups suddenly surrounded the village and arsoned all the residents of the village alive in their houses. That morning, not a single family was left alive in Meshali, and about 30 people, including children, women and the elderly, were brutally murdered. Meshali village was razed to the ground after that massacre.

Despite all these listed facts and even the testimonies of the witnesses of that terrible event, Armenia still defends the internationally wanted terrorists.

However, Armenia has repeatedly declared at a number of meetings held at international level that it recognizes and respects the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan. Today, Armenia's defending the terrorist Khachatryan is actually a crime at the state level and a clear manifestation of supporting terror.

Armenia and the terrorist community under its protection to this day think that they have already been forgotten. However, they forgot one fact that Azerbaijan does not forget any crime.

Of course, there were survivors of the tragedy that happened 32 years ago. Those who were captured among them and those who witnessed those horrors remember those days with bitter impression. One of those witnesses, Mail Mammadov, spoke about the incident 22 years ago. The video of Mail Mammadov's speech was recorded and later shared on social networks. Mammadov, who was captured at that time, spoke about the unbearable torture of the Armenians and mentioned that one of the Armenians who tortured him was Vagif Khachatryan.

“We were taken aside. An Armenian came in with welding in his hands and I saw that he was carving a cross. He said “go to the exit.” I went out, the prisoners were gathered in the street. In front of the prisoners, they threw me to the ground, and they stamped a blazing cross on my body. It was Arthur and Vagif who stamped the red-hot cross on my body. Another one was pressing the cross with his foot on my chest.

Vagif was an Armenian. Another prisoner was brought in. They put me in with him too. His hands were tied with wire. There was a hole in the stomach, it was covered with rags. Whether the Armenians covered or he himself. In general, the wound, the legs were all in a terrible state. He was bleeding from his eyes. They [Armenians] came and beat him with sticks. Then they knocked down and crushed his head, it became so flat, and his eyes went out of their sockets. Then they carried him out into the street. A month passed, I saw that his head had been cut off."

As we listen to the witness, his words reminded us a bitter story written by the Armenians themselves. Markar Melkonyan someone who called himself a writer, talks about Armenian brutality in his book "My Brother's Road" dedicated to his terrorist brother.

"An Azerbaijani is chained and held in captive like a dog. They throw food in front of him as they did for a dog. One day, an Armenian holding an Azerbaijani captive beheaded him. However, nightmares don't leave him alone every day. He goes to the Armenian priest and says: is it a sin to cut off a dog's head?

The priest asks: a two-legged dog or a four-legged dog?

Armenian killer (Kechal Sergey) says: two-legged dog

And the priest answers the question, "If it is a two-legged dog, it is not considered a sin."

When reading this story, Armenia's defending Khachatryan for some reason already sheds some light on what has happened. Azerbaijan did not expect more than this from Armenia anyway. Although both international circles and the international court support Armenia in covering up its crimes, Azerbaijan will not back down from its position. Sooner or later, Khachatryan and other terrorists like him will be held accountable.

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Elnur Enveroglu is AzerNews’ deputy editor-in-chief, follow him on @ElnurMammadli1

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