Official: Khojaly genocide must be legally assessed
By Sabina Mammadli
Gunduz Ismayilov, deputy chairman of Azerbaijan's State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, has stated that the Khojaly genocide must be assessed legally and fairly.
He made the remarks at a Caucasian Muslims Office event commemorating the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide.
He emphasized that the state is doing a lot of work in connection with the fair legal assessment of the Khojaly genocide at the international level.
“Some circles in the world approach this issue through double standards. However, the issue related to the Khojaly genocide is a matter of humanity. The genocide against civilians in Khojaly is a crime committed against all mankind,” he finalized.
Meanwhile, Archimandrite Alexy, secretary of the Baku and Azerbaijan Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, described the Khojaly genocide as one of the most heinous crimes committed not only against the Azerbaijani people but also against all humanity.
Speaking at the event, he compared the Khojaly genocide to other terrible tragedies such as Khatyn, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Srebrenica, and others, adding that everyone who learns about the tragedy is horrified.
Archimandrite Alexy also stated that the destruction of cultural monuments in Khojaly, specifically the Khojaly cemetery, which is considered one of the most ancient burial places, is an act of violence against the entire world culture.
He emphasized that 613 people were killed and a thousand civilians of various ages were disabled during the Khojaly genocide.
“These are not just figures for us. These are fatal cases and ruined fates of people,” he said.
Armenia committed genocide against the 7,000-person population of Azerbaijan's Khojaly town on February 26, 1992.
As a result of the Khojaly genocide, 613 peaceful Azerbaijanis were killed, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly people. Simultaneously, 487 civilians were seriously injured, and 1,275 people were kidnapped. The fate of 150 hostages remains unknown, including 68 women and 26 children.
During the genocide, 56 people were killed with extreme cruelty, with their heads peeled off, various limbs severed, eyes removed, and pregnant women's bellies pierced with bayonets. As a result, eight families were utterly destroyed, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children were orphaned.
Relevant documents adopted by the parliaments of Mexico, Pakistan, the Czech Republic, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Honduras, Sudan, Guatemala and Djibouti recognized the Khojaly massacre as an act of genocide. The parliaments of Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Jordan, Slovenia, Scotland, and Paraguay, as well as the executive and legislative bodies of 22 U.S. states have strongly condemned the Khojaly tragedy as a massacre. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation recognized Armenia as an aggressor and the Khojaly tragedy as genocide.
Every year on February 26, the victims of the Khojaly genocide are remembered at the initiative of national leader Heydar Aliyev.
This heinous act was preceded by a slew of others. Armenians set fire to around 20 buildings in the Baghanis-Ayrim village of Gazakh region, killing eight Azerbaijanis. A family of five, including a 39-day-old newborn, were all burnt alive.
Between June and December 1991, Armenian troops murdered 12 and wounded 15 Azerbaijanis in Khojavand region's Garadaghli and Asgaran region's Meshali villages.
Armenian military detachments bombed buses on the Shusha-Jamilli, Aghdam-Khojavand, and Aghdam-Garadaghli routes in August and September of the same year, killing 17 Azerbaijanis and injuring over 90 others.
In October and November 1991, Armenians burned, destroyed, and plundered over 30 settlements in the mountainous area of Karabakh, including Tugh, Imarat-Garvand, Sirkhavand, Meshali, Jamilli, Umudlu, Garadaghli, Karkijahan, and other significant villages.
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