In the prestigious "Sakartvelos Respublika" newspaper of Georgia, the article "Khojali Genocide - Tragedy of the 20th Century" dedicated to the 32nd anniversary of the Khojaly Genocide by historian-scientist Guram Markhulia was published. Taking into account that it will be interesting for our readers, we present the article in the translation of Georgian language expert Nariman Aliyev. "The Khojaly tragedy is the most terrible act of genocide committed against humanity in the history of mankind, and it will live forever in memory as the bloodiest page of all time. In addition to the number of dead peaceful Azerbaijanis, we are talking about the unimaginable horrors of torture inflicted on innocent people, the Tragedy of Humanity, which is comparable to the genocides of Khatyn, Lidisa, and Oradur. Let's remind once again that on the night of February 25-26, 1992, Armenian military units attacked the city of Khojaly with the help of the 366th motorized rifle regiment of the former USSR army. Although 2,500 residents of the city turned to Agdam to escape, the Armenians shot the civilians. With that, the Armenian invaders committed one of the bloodiest genocides in history against the Azerbaijani people in Khojaly. As a result of this massacre, a total of 613 people, including 106 women, 63 children, and 70 old people, were brutally destroyed. 1,275 civilians were captured, the fate of 150 of them is still unknown. 475 people were disabled. Eight families were completely destroyed. 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one of their parents. The Khojaly massacre was part of the planned ethnic cleansing and aggression policy carried out by Armenia against Azerbaijan for many years. The political and military leadership of Armenia at that time is responsible for this genocide.
But Armenia's acts of aggression and terrorism against Azerbaijanis do not end there. Armenian bandits also carried out massacres against peaceful Azerbaijanis in Baganis Ayrim, Garadagli, Agdaban and Bashlibel settlements. As a result, up to 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands were occupied, and about 20 thousand people died in the fight against the merciless occupation. At the same time, Azerbaijan has faced a great humanitarian disaster for many years. In 1994, on the initiative of the then President Heydar Aliyev, the Milli Majlis adopted a special resolution "February 26 - Khojaly Genocide Day". In the document, the causes of the incident and the culprits were explained in detail. In the Khatai district of Baku, a monument called "Mother's House" was erected in memory of the victims of the Khojaly genocide. It should also be noted that the Heydar Aliyev Foundation works systematically and consistently in order to convey the facts about the Khojaly genocide to the world. Actions, series of events, exhibitions, commemorations are held in several countries of the world within the framework of a special project related to the genocide with the support and organization of the Foundation. "Justice for Khojaly!" announced at the initiative of Leyla Aliyeva, the vice-president of the foundation, the chief coordinator for intercultural dialogue of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum. and the effectiveness of the campaign increases year by year.
In response to the provocations and military aggression of Armenia, which constantly targets the civilian population, the people of Azerbaijan fought for the liberation of their ancient lands from occupation, the fulfillment of the resolutions of the UN Security Council, and the restoration of historical justice in the Patriotic War that began on September 27, 2020 and continued until November 10. got up to fight and defeated the armed forces of Armenia and won a historic victory. As a result of 44 days of fighting, the brave Azerbaijani Army freed its native land from occupation. Thus, Khojaly genocide was avenged on the battlefield.
In the course of the Patriotic War, Armenia's targeting of Ganja, Barda, and other cities and villages with ballistic and jet missiles and cluster bombs proved once again that although the methods have changed over time, committing bloody crimes against the civilian population is the permanent state policy of the Armenian side.
Today, Azerbaijan is commemorating the 32nd anniversary of the Khojaly genocide with its head held high. The city of Khojaly was cleared of separatists on September 19-20, 2023, as a result of local anti-terrorist measures carried out by the Azerbaijani Army in Karabakh. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev raised the State Flag of Azerbaijan in Khojaly on October 15 of that year. This demonstrates once again that the blood of the victims of the Khojaly tragedy does not remain on the ground.
The people of Azerbaijan are commemorating the 32nd anniversary of the genocide by visiting the famous "Mother's Hill" monument. But the world is still silent on this merciless massacre. The people of Azerbaijan are stubbornly fighting for the delivery of the right voice to the world. Currently, the Khojaly genocide has been recognized as an act of genocide by a number of countries. These are the first steps towards international political assessment of the tragedy. But the Khojaly genocide must receive its true international legal price and those who committed this terrible tragedy must receive their deserved punishment."
P. Amirjanov
XQ
