Azernews.Az

By Vafa Ismayilova

An Italian city municipality has adopted a document condemning the Khojaly genocide and expressing solidarity with the Azerbaijani people, the State Committee for Work with Diaspora reported on February 24.

In accordance with the preamble of the document, the Liveri city municipality of the Italian city of Naples adopted an appeal to the Italian government entitled "UN Security Council Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be immediately implemented", which contained an appeal to condemn Armenia's aggressive and occupational policy against Azerbaijan.

The need for immediate implementation of the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly was emphasized.

With reference to the Human Rights Watch, it has been brought to the attention that the Khojaly genocide is the biggest and most terrible massacre in the history of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and that the European Court of Human Rights has assessed the Khojaly genocide against the Azerbaijani civilians as a war crime or equated to a crime against humanity.

The document expressed solidarity with the Azerbaijani people in connection with the Khojaly genocide committed on the night from February 25 to 26, 1992, and also called on the relevant official structures of Italy to recognize the Khojaly genocide, which is a crime against humanity, the report added.

Earlier three different municipalities from Italy's Catanzaro, Chieti and L'Aquila provinces adopted documents urging respect for Azerbaijan's sovereignty, territorial integrity and internationally-recognized borders and further strengthening of Azerbaijani-Italian strategic partnership.

The documents expressed solidarity with the people affected by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and stressed that the rights of Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs should be ensured to return to their native lands.

It should be noted that about 20 cities and municipalities in Italy have adopted similar documents.

Turkey

Meanwhile, local news sources reported that Turkey's Grand National Assembly Speaker Mustafa Sentop stated that the perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide will sooner or later be held accountable. He made the remarks at an event held at the Turkish parliament to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the genocide. He recalled that the Armenians also desecrated the dead bodies during the massacre.

"It is necessary to convey the truth about the Khojaly gencode to the world community and stand by Azerbaijan's just cause. The Khojaly genocide is one of the most horrific crimes of the 20th century. Turkey always feels the pain of the massacre, which is a black stain on human history," he was quoted as saying.

GUAM

Furthermore, the Secretariat of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM) commemorated the Khojaly genocide committed by Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1992, the organization said.

The secretariat noted that the GUAM member states must join forces to prevent such tragedies from happening again.

During the Karabakh war, the Armenian military committed an act of genocide against the population of Azerbaijan’s Khojaly town on February 26, 1992.

As many as 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 old people were killed as a result of the massacre. A total of 1,000 civilians became disabled in the onslaught. Eight families were completely annihilated, 130 children lost one parent, while 25 lost both parents. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people still remains unknown.

All these acts were committed by the Armenian military with extreme mercilessness and inconceivable barbarism. The second battalion of 366th regiment under the command of Major Seyran Ohanyan, the third battalion under the command of Yevgeniy Nabokhin, staff chief of the first battalion Valeriy Chitchyan and more than 50 officers and ensigns took part in the attack, according to "The Investigation Materials Concerning Khojaly Occupation".

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