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International circles urging Azerbaijan to move towards a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, are not exerting any pressure on Armenia, Deputy Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Bahar Muradova said at an event organised by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party in connection with the 22nd anniversary of the Khojaly genocide on Feb. 24.
“The issue of Khojaly genocide has been recently raised by the state agencies, parliament and NGOs in various countries and international organisations,” she said. “Appropriate decisions are made in this regard.”
“Khojaly residents were killed by Armenians because they were Azerbaijani people,” Muradova stressed.
“We have raised this issue at various levels,” she added. “Armenia continues violating the norms of the international law.”
Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Inter-parliamentary Relations, Samad Seyidov stressed that the perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide must be brought before the court.
“All perpetrators of genocide must answer for their actions,” he said.
On February 25-26, 1992, Armenian occupation forces together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops stationed in Khankendi committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly.
Some 613 people were killed, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people. A total of 1000 civilians were disabled during the genocide.
Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both.
Some 1275 innocent residents were taken hostages, while the fate of 150 people remains unknown.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Trend.az
