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Sabina Mammadli

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Azerbaijan is conducting preparation works to hold events dedicated to the 31st anniversary of the Khojaly genocide.

The remarks were made by the Head of the Department for Social, Political, and Humanitarian Issues of the Executive Power of Khatai district of Baku Panah Imanov, Azernews reports.

He said that the preparation works have been carried out since early February in the district’s Khojaly park, where the Cry of the Mother monument is erected.

"In the areas around and inside the park, work is underway on facing areas that have become unusable with stone, painting benches, and restoring lighting. Facades of buildings located along Khojaly Avenue are being cleaned, and sidewalks are being washed,” he said.

Furthermore, he mentioned that flower beds are planted on the streets and roads leading to the park.

The Khojaly genocide is seen as the pinnacle of the systematic crimes and atrocities committed by Armenia against Azerbaijanis.

As a result of the Khojaly genocide, 613 Azerbaijani civilians, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly people were killed. Simultaneously, 487 civilians were seriously injured, and 1,275 people were kidnapped. The fate of 150 hostages, including 68 women and 26 children remains unknown.

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.

Azerbaijan annually commemorates the victims of the Khojaly genocide on February 26.

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