Azernews.Az

European Azerbaijanis Congress (EAC) is conducting a campaign to collect signatures for the recognition of Khojaly genocide committed against Azerbaijanis by Armenians during the 1990s war, the State Committee on Work with the Diaspora told Trend news agency.

The purpose of the campaign, being held in conjunction with the International Day of Human Rights, is to inform the world community about the fact that the tragedy, which took place in the late 20th century, is a crime not only against the people of Azerbaijan, but also one of the worst crimes against humanity.

European Azerbaijanis Congress plans to send petitions to the socio-political structure of the EU on the recognition and political assessment of the Khojaly genocide. In this regard, EAC organizes the collection of signatures for the recognition of Khojaly genocide and calls on Diaspora organizations of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis living abroad to join this action.

The town of Khojaly within the administrative borders of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, had population of over 7,000 people. Nagorno-Karabakh, along with seven surrounding districts, has been occupied by Armenian armed forces since the war fought in the early 1990s, which displaced about a million Azerbaijanis.

Late on February 25, 1992, the town came under intensive fire from the town of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by Armenian forces. At night the Armenian armed forces supported by the ex-Soviet 366th regiment completed the surrounding of the town already isolated due to ethnic cleansing of the Azerbaijani population of its neighboring regions. The joint forces occupied the town, which was ruined by heavy artillery shelling.

In just a few hours, 613 civilians were killed, including 106 women, 70 elderly and 83 children. A total of 1,000 civilians were disabled. 56 people were killed with outrageous brutality, eight families were totally exterminated, and 25 children lost both parents, while 130 children lost at least one parent, in what became the most brutal punishment of civilians during the three years of the conflict's military phase. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 remains unknown.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a fragile ceasefire in 1994. However, peace talks, brokered by the U.S., Russia and France, co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, have been largely fruitless so far.