Jordan’s Senate condemns Khojaly genocide
By Nigar Orujova
Jordanian Senate condemned the Khojaly genocide committed by Armenian armed forces against Azerbaijani civilians during the 1990s war and adopted a statement on the genocide, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry reported on July 3.
The Senate's statement condemns the violence committed against the Muslim Azerbaijani population and acts of vandalism against mosques and Islamic shrines.
The Senate calls for the resolution of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in accordance with international norms and principles in the framework of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan as well as for the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on the conflict.
Jordan's Legislative Body also notes the country's commitment to peaceful resolution of all conflicts and encourages other countries to support Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons, who find themselves in difficult circumstances as a result of the conflict.
Earlier in May the Senate of Jordan issued a statement on the Khojaly genocide and expressed support to the decisions of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) recognizing Khojaly tragedy as a genocide and a crime against humanity and calling to take due steps to get this massacre recognized.
The scope of coverage of the realities on the Khojaly tragedy expands year-on-year and the number of countries recognizing those crimes as genocide is increasing.
Thus, the resolutions on the Khojaly tragedy have been passed in the parliaments of Turkey, Pakistan, Mexico, and Colombia, as well as the OIC.
This year, such resolutions have been adopted in the parliaments of the Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Besides, the U.S. states of Connecticut, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Texas, Maine, New Jersey, Georgia, New Mexico, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Pennsylvania recognized the Khojaly massacre.
Late into the night of February 25, 1992, the town of Khojaly, situated within the administrative borders of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intensive fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by Armenian armed forces. The Armenian forces, supported by the ex-Soviet 366th regiment, completed the surrounding of the town already isolated due to ethnic cleansing of the Azerbaijani population of the neighboring regions. The joint forces occupied the town, which was ruined by heavy artillery shelling.
Thousands of fleeing civilians were ambushed by the Armenian forces. Punitive teams of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh defense army reached the unprotected civilians to slaughter them, mutilating some of the bodies. 613 civilians, including 106 women, 70 elderly and 83 children, were killed in the massacre. A total of 1,000 civilians were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, and 25 children lost both parents, while 130 children lost one parent. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 remains unknown.