Khojaly witness remembers pain of terrible night

By Maryam Abdullazade

32 years have passed since the night of February 26, 1992, when the frost cut like a sword and the enemy's bullet ruined human fate in half.

We still feel those pains that the years have distanced us from, but could not wipe them off our hearts and minds.

Past years are just a number, not time. In 32 years, the horror of that day has not been erased from the minds of the witnesses even for a moment. No matter how difficult it is for Khojaly witnesses to express their grief today, they are burning and keeping alive the biggest fire in their hearts...

Today, the people of Khojaly are happy and proud because that night's revenge was taken, but they are also passengers in the sea of sorrow for life.

When a person talks about what he has experienced, he actually relaxes, he can overcome his hoarseness even a little, but unfortunately, even though the people of Khojaly have been talking for 32 years, it is impossible to put out the fire in their hearts.

Of course, the reason is pretty obvious. How many relatives, acquaintances, loved ones they lost in just one night... They sacrificed themselves in the night from 25th to 26th February... Maybe they didn't think that in a glimpse of time their whole life would be turned upside down and they would be displaced from their native land.

Even though I did not witness that night with my own eyes, I put myself in the place of the people of Khojaly as a person who studied at Khojaly City Secondary School No. 2 for exactly 6 years of my high school life. In the Khojaly school where I studied, not only on February 26, but every day, every minute, every second, they commemorated the victims of Khojaly with respect. We were always sure that Khojaly would be retuned one day.

Generally, during all the years of my education, there were people from Garabagh around me, and especially, as I mentioned earlier, as long as I was studying at the Khojaly school, I was surrounded entirely by Khojaly people. I still don't forget the anxiety in their eyes, hatred for the enemy. I am sure that even today, their hearts are not silent and they are ready to talk more and more. Because this horror extends as it is told, and the more it extends, the more its incurable wounds bleed.

When Khojaly people talk about what they experienced that night, the words get knotted in their throats, in fact, they intend to convey to the whole world that bloody night that the Armenian vandals made them live, that night where justice did not exist. However, talking about what happened takes them back to that night and relives the same events.

The words of Khojaly witness Salimova Zanura, whom I know very well, still echo in my ears.

"I did not know that I would be forced to leave my native land."

This expression also reminds me of the family brought to Azerbaijan after the earthquake in Turkiye last year.

"The building didn't fall, but we fell underneath, we didn't run away from our country, we are a warrior nation!"

Life is a boomerang, and finally, Armenians deservedly received the punishment for their actions. Of course, this does not mean that we will turn back time and bring back the victims of Khojaly. They live in our hearts. And the victory of the 44-day Patriotic War over the enemy made their souls happy.

May the victims and martyrs of the Khojaly genocide live in peace. We wish patience to the witnesses.