Azernews.Az

In a modern era in which ideological propaganda is of great importance, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Heydar Aliyev Center work hard to raise the international community`s awareness about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, AzerTac state news agency reported.

To this end, special expositions and booklets in English were sent to 25 countries to support campaigns for the 21st anniversary of the Khojaly genocide. Along with the USA, South African Republic, Republic of Korea, Belarus, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Indonesia, Sweden, United Kingdom, Israel, Jordan, Canada, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Japan, which received 17 expositions and editions through diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan, the comprehensive information about bloody crimes committed by Armenians in Khojaly will be provided to Austria, Italy, the UAE, Italy, Iran, Spain, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Turkmenistan.

Expositions include photographs depicting atrocities perpetrated by armed forces of Armenia during assault on Khojaly, and articles on the tragedy published in a variety of foreign publications. In addition, a film on the Khojaly genocide is scheduled to be screened at the commemoration ceremonies. The booklets Khojaly Genocide prepared by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and booklets Karabakh realities by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation also includes information about the history of Karabakh, history of the conflict, consequences of Armenian aggression, anti-Azerbaijani activity of Armenian terrorist organizations.
The major aim of these events is to educate the world community about the objective and true information about the Khojaly genocide.

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.