Azernews.Az

ANKARA – A series of events will be held in Turkey late in February to commemorate the victims of the Khojaly massacre committed by Armenians against Azeris in 1992, a Turkish lawmaker has said.

Mustafa Kabakci also said he had appealed to the Turkish Grand National Assembly’s leaders over addressing parliament on February 25, in connection with the 19th anniversary of the massacre.

"Our goal is to inform Turkey and the world community about the Khojaly massacre, to draw attention to this issue," said Kabakci, who chairs a Turkish-Azeri inter-parliamentary friendship group.

The functions devoted to the Khojaly issue will take place over four days in the Turkish cities of Ankara, Istanbul, Samsun, Adana and Kayseri.

Thousands of Azerbaijani civilians were slain by Armenian armed forces in the Khojaly region with the support of Russian troops on February 25-26, 1992. 613 people were brutally killed, including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly. 1,275 were taken captives, while 487 became handicapped and 190 went missing.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994. 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno Karabakh and seven adjacent districts, has been under Armenian occupation since then. OSCE-brokered peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.