Azernews.Az

Sabina Aliyeva, the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, participated in a memorial event held in Ankara, Türkiye, on the 33rd anniversary of the Khojaly Genocide. Azernews reports that the event was organized by the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, the Türkiye-Azerbaijan Friendship, Cooperation, and Solidarity Association, and the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Türkiye.

In her speech at the event, the Ombudsman highlighted the long-standing policy of occupation, ethnic cleansing, and genocide perpetrated by Armenia against Azerbaijanis, which resulted in the mass killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent people and forced countless others into lives as refugees and internally displaced persons. She provided a detailed account of the genocide committed by Armenia against peaceful civilians in Khojaly during the night of February 25-26, 1992, a horrific act that blatantly violated international law and its norms.

Despite the 33 years that have passed since the tragedy, Aliyeva noted that international organizations and states around the world have yet to fully acknowledge the Khojaly Genocide both politically and legally. She stressed the importance of delivering complete justice for this atrocity and holding the perpetrators accountable for their crimes.

The Ombudsman also addressed the devastating losses during the First Karabakh War, revealing that approximately 4,000 people were killed, including 150 Azerbaijanis who went missing during the Khojaly Genocide. Despite multiple appeals to Armenia for information about the missing individuals, their fate remains unknown. Aliyeva shared that, during the ongoing construction, restoration, and search operations in the liberated territories, mass graves have been uncovered, and the identities of nearly 170 individuals have been confirmed.

Aliyeva also emphasized the hardships faced by Azerbaijanis who were displaced from present-day Armenia during various periods of the last century. These individuals experienced grave violations of their fundamental rights and freedoms, with the destruction of their settlements, as well as their historical and religious monuments. The Ombudsman underscored the critical importance of ensuring the return of ethnic Azerbaijanis to their ancestral lands safely and with dignity, while guaranteeing their rights and freedoms.