Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

Azerbaijani MP Jala Aliyeva will visit Turkey on February 22-27 to participate in an international conference on "Occupation of Karabakh and Khojaly Genocide" organized by the Azerbaijan`s embassy and Yalova municipality.

Furthermore, Azerbaijani parliamentarian Musa Gasimli will leave for the Turkish capital of Ankara to attend a series of events commemorating the 21st anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy, Azertac reported on Friday.

The events will be co-organized by the University of the Turkish Aeronautical Association (UTAA) and the Alumni Association. Gasimli will address the event to highlight history and consequences of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Another Azerbaijani MP Aydin Mirzazade will also visit Turkey to participate in the commemorative events on Khojaly tragedy.

Furthermore, the Norwegian Azerbaijanis Youth Organization (NAYO) and the "Azerbaijan house" will hold an exhibition and a commemorative event on the 21st anniversary of the Khojaly genocide in Sagene municipality, Oslo, Saturday.

According to the Azerbaijan State Committee on Work with Diaspora, the exhibition that will last by March 1 will demonstrate Armenian barbarism to the local community.
Participants of the event will also adopt an appeal to the Norwegian parliament calling it to recognize the Khojaly tragedy as a genocide against humanity.

The exhibition will show more than 100 books and photos on the Khojaly tragedy sent by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation to the NAYO in 2009.

The commemorative event will feature demonstration of a documentary on Khojaly.
NAYO chair Ramil Aliyev said the event aims to achieve the Norwegian government's political and legal assessment of the Armenians' atrocities against Azerbaijani people.

Meanwhile, U.S. Senator for Pennsylvania, Pat Toomey, has joined some of his colleagues in condemning the Khojaly massacre. In his reply letter to U.S. Azeris Network, Senator Toomey said hundreds of ethnic Azerbaijani civilians were killed by Armenian forces on February 25-26, 1992.

"According to Human Rights Watch, the Khojaly Massacre was one of the largest losses of civilian life during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. I strongly condemn the targeted killing of unarmed civilians during war. Specifically, I understand the need in commemoration of the Khojaly Massacre," he said.

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 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.