Aliyeva said that in the night from 25 to 26 February 1992, the
Armenian occupiers seized Azerbaijan's city of Khojali. They severely
killed 613 innocent civilians, including 106 women, 70 old people, 63
children, while thousands became invalids and 150 were missing.
"Why it was necessary to kill civilians who didn't present any
military threat to the Armenian troops," Aliyeva said. It was an
intentional action and a real genocide against Azerbaijani people, she
added.
Furthermore, she said this was the act of mass intimidation. "The time
showed that the spirit of Azerbaijani people was not broken then and
cannot be broken ever in the future," Aliyeva said.
It is really horrifying that this tragedy occurred at the end of the 20th
century and still has not received political and legal, especially
moral estimation from the international community, Aliyeva said
Aliyeva thanked all people, including the Russians, who raised their
voice of protest against cruelty and injustice committed against
Azerbaijani people. Over 20 years, Azerbaijani lands have been kept
under occupation, there are millions of refugees and internally
displaced persons in the country, she said.
"Our government pays great attention to them and there isn't any
refugee camp in Azerbaijan now. All refugees have been provided with
normal living conditions," Aliyeva said.
The Heydar Aliyev Foundation pays special attention to this problem,
publishing books, producing films and holding photo exhibitions every
year. Presently, the Foundation is holding commemorative events on
Khojali genocide in 50 countries with participation of scientists,
historians, culture figures, youth and media outlets, she said.
"On May 8, 2008 as ICYF-DC for Intercultural Dialogue General
Coordinator, I initiated an action 'Justice for Khojali'," Aliyeva
said. The action aims to inform fairly the international community of
this tragedy, she added. "Presently, presentation of 'Justice for
Khojali' website is being held in many countries to provide reliable
data about this tragedy," Aliyeva said.
She thanked all the attendees in the event, especially, Aliyev Zaur
and Yusubov Anar, witnesses of the tragedy. "I believe that the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be solved in fair
fashion soon. Territorial integrity of Azerbaijan will be restored and
these people will be able to return their homes and native lands,"
Aliyeva said.
The film, produced by Heydar Aliyev Foundation regarding tragic
events in Khojali and the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict was
demonstrated during the event.
Ambassadors of Uzbekistan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Mali, Sudan, Saudi
Arabia, Kyrgyzstan and Iraq, representatives of Kazakhstan, Egypt and
Palestine's embassies, representatives of Russian public-political and
scientific circles and Azerbaijan's public organizations of Moscow,
etc. participated in the mourning ceremony at Azerbaijan's embassy in
Moscow.
/Trend News/