Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva attended the opening of a center for blind and visually impaired children and youth after its reconstruction in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on June 8, according to her official website.

The center was reconstructed with the support and on the initiative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Government officials of Bosnia and Herzegovina participated in the opening ceremony.

Director of the center Damir Ovcina informed Leyla Aliyeva that the facility was established in 1947. The center has two buildings.

Aliyeva viewed photos reflecting the previous looks of the center.

Ovcina said a state-of-the-art sports facility has been added to the project after an appeal to President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva.

The head of the center asked Aliyeva to convey his gratitude to the Azerbaijani First Lady.

Afterwards, Aliyeva listened to a music program performed by the center`s pupils.

Addressing the opening ceremony, head of the association for blind and visually impaired children, Yenisa Zimic, thanked the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

On behalf of Bosnian Prime Minister Nermin Niksic, Minister of Education and Science Damir Masic also thanked the Foundation.

Masic presented a certificate of appreciation and a keepsake to Aliyeva.

Other speakers at the event included Mayor of Municipality Novi Grad Semir Efendic and Bosnian MP Adnan Vasic.

Leyla Aliyeva was presented with handicrafts made by children at the center. Then she addressed the event. Aliyeva also planted a tree in the yard of the center and chatted with the children.

During the Sarajevo trip Aliyeva also visited a monument to the victims of Khojaly and Srebrenica genocides in the Friendship Park.

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. 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. 613 civilians were killed, including 106 women, 70 elderly and 83 children. A total of 1,000 civilians were disabled.

More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims, mainly men and boys, were killed in the genocide which happened during the Bosnian War in July 1995 in the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska. The mass killings were described by the Secretary General of the United Nations as the worst crime on European soil since World War II.