Azernews.Az

Another step was taken to inform the world community about the massacre committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis in 1992 when a music clip jointly prepared by Azerbaijan's government and a number of organizations was presented to the public on Wednesday.
The clip, co-produced by Azerbaijan’s Youth and Sports Ministry and Heydar Aliyev Foundation, and the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation, as part of the Justice for Khojaly campaign aiming to condemn the Khojaly massacre, was performed in English by the well-known US rapper Toni Blackman and Azerbaijan's Deyirman band. Along with modern rap rhymes, the song featured Mugham (Azerbaijani folk music) and balaban (national music instrument) tunes.
Speaking after the presentation, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Intigam Babayev said using visual means was pivotal for notifying the international community about the sinister actions committed in Khojaly.
"I believe that under the effect of the presented clip, the world community, which at times adheres to double standards, will change its opinion to a certain extent," he said.
Elshad Iskandarov, the secretary-general of the Youth Forum, who is coordinating the Justice for Khojaly campaign, said the reason music was used to spread the truth about the Khojaly massacre in the world is the psychological influence of this genre. "Moreover, Blackman has a great number of fanatic fans in the world who can listen to his each performance for hours on end."
Iskandarov noted that, beginning on Thursday, presentations of the clip will be held in 20 countries and it will be broadcast on television, expressing confidence that this will be an effective tool to advance the goals of the ongoing campaign.
130,000 youths abroad have so far voiced support for the Justice for Khojaly campaign using the justiceforkhojaly.org website, the coordinator added.
The campaign was initiated in February 2009 by Leyla Aliyeva, the youth forum’s senior coordinator for inter-cultural dialog. The initiative aims to inform the world community about the tragedy and achieve granting it due political assessment on the world stage.
Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a war in the early 1990s. On February 25-26, 1992, Armenian forces attacked unarmed civilians in Khojaly with the support of the Russian troops. 613 people were brutally killed, while 1,275 taken captives, 487 became handicapped and 150 remain missing. Overall, the war claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced about a million Azerbaijanis. Armenia has been occupying over 20% of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized territory since then. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.*