Azernews.Az

Victims of the Khojaly genocide were commemorated in Rustavi, Georgia, within the “Justice for Khojaly!” international campaign, initiated by Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

The attendees, first, observed a minute of silence to honor the memory of martyrs, AzerTag state news agency reported.

Speakers of the event, including chairman of the Cultural Center of Azerbaijanis Khaladdin Yolchuyev and head of the youth department of the Center of Culture of Georgian Azerbaijanis Nargiz Aliyeva highlighted the consequences of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and stressed the massacre that Armenians committed in Khojaly was real genocide.

Aliyeva underlined the role of the “Justice for Khojaly!” international campaign in delivering the truths about the tragedy to the world.

Addressing the event, representatives of Rustavi city administration and Kvemo Kartli province Koba Gardasanidze and Zura Baydarashvili underlined that everyone, irrespective of their nationality must curse those who committed that crime, and the world community must give a legal assessment to the tragedy.


In 1992, the town of Khojaly came under intense fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian armed forces. 613 civilians mostly women and children were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 people were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent.

Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, the fate of 150 of them remains unknown. Many civilians were shot at close range, scalped or burned alive.

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