Azernews.Az

Estonian winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2001, Tanel Padar, has expressed his support to the international Justice for Khojaly campaign, which aims to increase awareness about the Khojaly massacre of Azerbaijanis committed by Armenian armed forces during the Karabakh war in 1992.

Padar signed a petition within the campaign at a press conference in the Azerbaijani capital Baku last week.

The ``Justice for Khojaly`` campaign, announced on the initiative of Leyla Aliyeva, General Coordinator of Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation and Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, was launched in May 2008.

Padar said he was invited to a Khojaly refugee camp in Pirshagy settlement outside Baku.

``I saw many very good people with very bitter memories of the last twenty years,`` Padar said.

He expressed hope that people in Europe would become aware of this campaign.

Padar stressed that the saddest thing is that civilians die in such developments, even if it is the fault of good or bad politicians.

``I knew nothing about Khojaly before February, when I was invited to a conference organized as part of the Justice for Khojaly campaign in Estonia. But hearing about it is one thing, while meeting with people harmed by it is something else,`` he said.

Padar said he had an opportunity to promote the Justice for Khojaly campaign in his country.

``I want people in Estonia to know about it. It is emotionally hard,`` Padar said.

He added that he could even speak with the Estonian parliament on the issue.

On February 25-26, 1992, Armenian armed forces invaded Khojaly, a town located in Azerbaijan`s occupied Nagorno Karabakh region. During the attack, 613 people, including underage children and women, were brutally killed and hundreds of others disabled. 1,275 people were captured, including 150 whose fate is still unknown, and 5,379 people were ousted from their homes.