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Khojaly genocide victims commemorated in Rome

13 February 2014 17:34 (UTC+04:00)
Khojaly genocide victims commemorated in Rome

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijanis living abroad continue to hold events to commemorate the victims of the Khojaly genocide.

An international conference marking the anniversary of the Khojaly genocide has been held in Rome, AzerTag news agency reported.

The conference was organized by the Italian Helsinki Committee and Italian League of Human Rights.

Secretary-General of the Italian Helsinki Committee Antonio Stango, who moderated the conference, provided an insight into the history and consequences of the Khojaly genocide.

He emphasized the importance of conducting negotiations on protection of civilians in armed conflicts.

In 1992, the town of Khojaly, the second largest town in Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intensive fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian armed forces.

613 civilians with 106 women, 70 elderly and 83 children were killed in the massacre. Meanwhile, a total of 1,000 civilians were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost their both parents and 130 children one parent. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, the fate of 150 of them remains unknown. Civilians were shot at close range, scalped and burned alive. Some had their eyes gouged out and others were beheaded.

Speaking at the conference, Alfredo Arpaia, President of Italian League of Human Rights, said the longstanding and unresolved Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was a big threat to the South Caucasus region.

Arpaia said the Armenian side still disregards the resolutions of UN Security Council and General Assembly on immediate withdrawal of the armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s. Long-standing efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing and almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.

The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.

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