Azernews.Az

By Gulgiz Dadashova

Azerbaijanis living in Sweden will gather on Mynttorget, one of the central squares of the capital Stockholm, to hold a rally over the 21st anniversary of the Khojaly massacre committed by Armenian armed forces against Azerbaijani civilians during the 1990s war.

The Committee of Azerbaijanis in Sweden said that the rally, scheduled for Saturday, will be organized by a Stockholm-based committee comprising Azerbaijani countrymen. The rally will be held in front of the building of the Swedish parliament Riksdag.

Other diaspora organizations, particularly the representatives of Uygur and Turkish communities in Sweden, are also invited to take part in the rally. Moreover, the committee has sent out invitations to all political parties of the country and numerous international organizations.

A resolution in three languages -- Azerbaijani, Swedish and Russian -- will be read out during the rally in honor of the Khojaly massacre victims. The resolution calls for bringing to justice the Armenian criminals who committed one of the most gruesome massacres of the 20th century.

The document also urges the Swedish government, parliament, political parties and NGOs to contribute greatly to the recognition of the Armenian aggression and demand immediate withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

"The Armenian armed forces must immediately withdraw from the territory of Azerbaijan, and Armenia is obliged to demonstrate cooperation with international organizations in search of the Azerbaijanis who went missing during the [armed] conflict," it says. "The Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories has caused enormous material damage, therefore, Armenia must be brought to international justice and pay compensation to Azerbaijan. The international community should immediately impose political and economic sanctions on Armenia due to its refusal to withdraw from the occupied Azerbaijani territories and prosecute Armenian military criminals according to international law."

The document and a video file showing atrocities committed against Azerbaijani civilians will be sent to the Riksdag members and leaders of political parties.

Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict which emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against the neighboring country. Since the lengthy war between the two South Caucasus countries that ended with the signing of a precarious cease-fire in 1994, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. Peace talks brokered by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs the United States, Russia and France have been largely fruitless so far. Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on its withdrawal from the occupied Azerbaijani lands.

Late into the night of February 25, 1992, the town of Khojaly came under intensive fire from the town of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by Armenian armed forces. At night the Armenian 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 the neighboring regions. The joint forces occupied the town, which was ruined by heavy artillery shelling.

Thousands of fleeing civilians were ambushed by Armenian forces. Punitive teams of the so-called NK defense army reached the unprotected civilians to slaughter them, mutilating and scalping some bodies. 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.