Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

International photo contest "My Khojaly" has started within the framework of the international campaign "Justice for Khojaly".

Co-ordinator of the international campaign "Justice for Khojaly" Sevinj Iskenderova said those wishing to take part in the competition should send their own photo messages on the topic Khojaly genocide, or the message, which expresses a sense of humanism and the fair treatment of the participant to this tragedy to the address [email protected] till October 5.

According to Iskenderova, who is also head of projects department at the Eurasian Regional Center of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (ICYF-DC), ten best photos will be published on the campaign website and based on an open vote the jury will announce the names of the three winners.

The winner of the competition will take part in the international contest in Europe in October of this year. The rest of the winners will be awarded with special prizes.

The additional information about the events in Khojaly is available at a website of the "Justice for Khojaly" campaign (www.justiceforkhojaly.org).

For any further inquiry please write to the campaign page on Facebook or send an email to jfk.campaign@ gmail.com.

International awareness campaign "Justice for Khojaly" was initiated by the Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the General Coordinator of Intercultural Dialogue for the OIC Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation Leyla Aliyeva. At the present, the campaign, aimed at achieving political and moral evaluation of the tragedy by the world community, is implemented by hundreds of activists in more than 35 countries.

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 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.