Community head urges to judge Khojaly genocide perpetrators
By Jamila Babayeva
Perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide must answer before a court, Head of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh Bayram Safarov told journalists on February 21.
"A large scale activity on the recognition of the Khojaly genocide worldwide is being conducted as part of the "Justice for Khojaly" campaign," he said. "Several countries have already recognised this tragedy as genocide."
Safarov further said the problems of children who have lost both parents as a result of the Khojaly genocide are in the spotlight.
"The Azerbaijani community of Nagorno Karabakh is also making efforts to resolve housing and other problems of these people," he said.
In 1992, the town of Khojaly, the second largest town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intense fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian armed forces.
613 civilians including 106 women, 70 elderly, and 83 children were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 civilians were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both their parents, and 130 children lost one parent.
Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, and 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.