Aghdaban community and representatives of Azerbaijani NGOs appeal to international community

The community of Aghdaban and representatives of Azerbaijani NGOs have appealed to the international community with an open letter.

The letter says:

“We, peaceful Azerbaijanis who were subjected to the genocide by Armenian military units in the village of Aghdaban of the Kalbajar district on April 7-8, 1992, including live witnesses of the massacre, those who lost their family members, relatives, and homes, as well as representatives of Azerbaijan’s civil society, are appealing to you with an open letter and demanding justice!

Hot on the heels of the Khojaly genocide, more than 130 houses were burned, and 779 villagers were killed during the massacre committed by Armenia against the civilian population in the village of Aghdaban of the Kalbajar district in the early hours of April 8, 1992. During the tragedy, 32 people were murdered, eight elderly people, two kids, and seven women were burned alive. Two people went missing and five were taken prisoner.

During the tragedy, the manuscripts and collections of Ashiq Shamshir and his father, the native of Aghdaban poet Gurban, both prominent representatives of Azerbaijan’s Ashiq art, were destroyed. Ashiq Shamshir's grandson was burned alive.

Today, we are in our native land of Aghdaban. We are addressing you from a village that was completely destroyed by Armenia during the occupation. Here, all graves in the village cemetery were desecrated, including the grave of Ashiq Shamshir, and mined. During the occupation, Armenia blew up mosques in the territory of Azerbaijan, kept pigs and cattle in them, and razed dozens of mosques to the ground. This is an act of vandalism that does not befit any religion or spirituality.

As a result of the acts of genocide and crimes committed in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, dozens of mass graves are still being discovered in liberated territories.

We are outraged by the arming of Armenia by France and the European Union under the guise of a European peace mechanism, as well as all kinds of support for the re-emergence of revengeful trends in Armenia. We reject all such actions and double standard approaches to the issue of territorial integrity, and consider these steps as actions against the people and state of Azerbaijan!

We know perfectly well that the Aghdaban genocide, and indeed the genocide committed in Khojaly, Meshali, Gushchular, Malibayli, Garadaghli, Balligaya, Bashlibel, was committed in order to break the resolve of our people who stood up for the defense of their native land during Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan, to undermine their determination to fight, and to carry out ethnic cleansing.

The past period, the 44-day war in 2020, the anti-terror operation on September 19-20, 2023 also showed that all this could not break the unwavering determination of the Azerbaijani people.

We, representatives of the Aghdaban community and civil society of Azerbaijan, are proud of Victorious Commander-in-Chief and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. As a result of his resolute policy and wise leadership, Azerbaijan has secured the implementation of UN resolutions on its own, the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our republic has been fully restored, and the people of Azerbaijan have realized their greatest dream. We fully support and welcome the policy of President Ilham Aliyev!

Signatories:

Khalifa Huseynov - resident of Aghdaban

Durra Gurbanova - resident of Aghdaban

Aligulu Aliyev - resident of Aghdaban

Bahman Baghirov - resident of Aghdaban

Rafig Maharramov - resident of Aghdaban

Zahid Humbatov - resident of Aghdaban

Nasimi Safarov - resident of Aghdaban

Shahin Ahmadov - resident of Aghdaban

Saladdin Karimov - resident of Aghdaban

Reyhan Gasimova - resident of Aghdaban

Tabriz Aliyev - resident of Aghdaban