Azernews.Az

By Jamila Babayeva

British MPs voiced their concern on the lack of serious progress in peace talks over the resolution the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group, a group of members of the British Parliament noted in the letter of appeal to the Embassy of Azerbaijan in London.

The group included members of the UK-Azerbaijan parliamentary group, MPs Bob Blackman and Steven Hepburn, members of the House of Lords Lord Kilclooney and Lord Flight.

"This year Azerbaijan marks the 22nd anniversary of the Khojaly genocide," the letter read. "We remember with great sorrow 613 innocent civilians killed by the Armenian armed forces during the occupation of Khojaly. These days while Azerbaijani people mark the anniversary of the tragedy we remember the killed innocent people. We have been in Azerbaijan for several times and witnessed the difficult and terrible life of refuges and IDPs, who were driven out from their homeland."

OSCE Minsk Group's mediation efforts for peaceful resolution of the long-lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which Armenia broke out as a result of unfair territorial claims on Azerbaijan, remain ineffective. No result has been achieved in the talks which has lasted for over 20 years.

The MPs noted that they are joining calls for the liberation of occupied Azerbaijani lands peacefully, and expressed the hope that the IDPs would return to their homes.

On February 25-26, 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.

As many as 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.