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Sabina Mammadli

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The Khojaly genocide is proof of the courage and fortitude of Azerbaijani people, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said.

He made the remarks during a commemorative event dedicated to the 31st anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, organized by the Foreign Ministry.

According to Azernews, the ministry's leadership and employees, as well as heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Azerbaijan, and media representatives, attended the event.

The participants discussed the events that preceded the Khojaly genocide, its consequences and got acquainted with the exhibition stands.

Speaking at the event, Bayramov noted that 31 years ago, the Armenian armed forces, with the support of the 366th motorized rifle regiment of the former USSR, entered the city of Khojaly, killing hundreds of Azerbaijani civilians, including women, children and the elderly. Having honored the memory of the victims of the Khojaly genocide, the minister said that the Khojaly genocide, imprinted in the national memory of the Azerbaijani people, is not forgotten.

The official underlined that the atrocities committed during the military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, the war crimes against the civilian population of the Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Barda, Terter during the Second Karabakh War are based on Armenia's policy of ethnic hatred and racial discrimination against Azerbaijanis.

"Despite the military-political provocations committed by Armenia, which impede the process of peace and normalization in the post-conflict period, as well as steps aimed at manipulating the international community, Azerbaijan is determined to promote a peaceful agenda aimed at establishing peace and security in the region," the minister added.

Furthermore, he stressed that Armenia continued its atrocious crimes during the 2020 second Karabakh war in Azerbaijan’s Barda and Ganja after Khojaly and if now wants peace, then it must abandon such an aggressive policy.

Then, the performance of the Azerbaijan State Pantomime Theater dedicated to the Khojaly genocide was presented under the title "Khojaly - it was."

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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