France hosts pantomime perforwance on Khojaly genocide

Actors of the Azerbaijan State Pantomime Theatre performed a play “Khojaly: between life and death” in the French capital on Sunday. The Azerbaijani-French Youth Association has organized the performance supported by the Azerbaijan Embassy in France and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as part of the “Khojaly Genocide Days” here.

Informing participants on the slaughter committed by Armenians 20 years ago in Khojaly, Azerbaijani ambassador to France Elchin Amirbayov said that the bloody crimes in Khojaly were not only against Azerbaijanis, but also whole humanity.

He said it has been 20 years since the Khojaly genocide, one of the most terrible and bloodiest tragedies in the 20th century. On the night of 25-26 February 1992, the Armenian armed forces, with participation of the Khankendi-based 366th motorized infantry regiment, attacked and ruined, in one night, the town of Khojaly, which had been encircled during months. In this bloody act, they brutally slaughtered civilians, murdering 613 people, abusing corpses, taking 1275 hostages. Of them, the fate of 150 remains unknown. Of the killed, 63 are children, 106 are women and 70 are elders. The military invasion completely wiped out 8 families.

The Azeri ambassador also expressed his regret over the fact French society is not aware on the Khojaly massacre. Elchin Amirbayov gave information on the “Justice for Khojaly” Campaign initiated by vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and General Coordinator of the Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (ICYF-DC) Leyla Aliyeva.

Mr. Amirbayov underlined the adoption of resolutions by Mexico and Pakistan on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Khojaly tragedy. The event was attended by the representatives of French society, Azerbaijan Embassy in Paris, Azerbaijan's permanent representative to UNESCO, Azerbaijani Diaspora here, students and journalists.


/AzerTAc/