Azernews.Az

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said Baku is observing the pace of events in connection with Moldovan Ombudsman Aurelia Grigoriu's incident to prevent any further pressure on her or using any repression against her.

During a report at Armenian Parliament, Grigoriu stated that the Khojaly genocide was committed by Armenians, and this is an internationally recognized fact.

After a speech in Armenian parliament Grigoriu was not let out from Armenia. She was kept in isolation and her life was threatened, Grigoriu's close friend Todur Zanet, who kept contact with her, told Trend.

Grigoriu managed to leave Yerevan, thanks to the help of the diplomatic missions accredited in Yerevan, without apologizes, that were demanded by the Armenian side. Currently, she is in Chisinau.

Speaking to a press conference on July 8, Mammadyarov said that Azerbaijani ambassador to Moldova is observing the pace of events.

Earlier, Azerbaijani Ombudsman Elmira Suleymanova condemned pressures and restrictions on freedom of Moldovan Ombudsman Aurelia Grigoriu in Armenia, because of her speech at the parliament of this country.

Exerting pressure for statement of historical fact, which is recognized by the international community and international organizations, against a person who is engaged in the protection of human rights and a representative of a foreign state, once again demonstrated to the world that this country is not a legal, democratic state, Suleymanova said in her statement.

Azerbaijani Ombudsman urged international organizations, including all her colleagues, not to remain indifferent to this incident.

Late into the night of February 25, 1992, the town of Khojaly, situated within the administrative borders of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intensive fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by Armenian armed forces. 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 the Armenian forces. Punitive teams of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh defense army reached the unprotected civilians to slaughter them, mutilating some of the bodies. 613 civilians, including 106 women, 70 elderly and 83 children, were killed in the massacre. A total of 1,000 civilians were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, and 25 children lost both parents, while 130 children lost one parent. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 remains unknown.