Azernews.Az

Jordan-based the Al-Hayat newspaper has published Azerbaijani ambassador Sabir Agabayov`s article on the 21st anniversary of Khojaly tragedy.

The diplomat writes in the article about the history of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, massacres committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis in 1905, 1907, 1918, 1948 and 1953. The ambassador also touches upon the consequences of Armenia`s military aggression against Azerbaijan after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Hajibayov condemns the fact that Yerevan has not yet fulfilled four resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council demanding withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and describes this as an international injustice. The ambassador calls the atrocities committed by Armenians in Khojaly as a crime against humanity. He also recalls a resolution adopted at the 7th gathering of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of Islamic Conference which recognizes the Khojaly tragedy as a crime against the humanity. The diplomat also highly appreciates the fact that the Pakistani Senate`s committee on foreign relations recognized the Khojaly massacre as a genocide committed by Armenia against Azerbaijanis, adding that other Muslim countries should take a similar step.

The ambassador also thanks the Jordan government on behalf of Azerbaijan for supporting his country`s position on settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Khojaly massacre is one of the most heinous and bloodiest events of the 20th century. 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 Nagorno Karabakh 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.