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Turkey always supports Azerbaijan in informing the world community about the Khojaly genocide, Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Ismail Alper Joshgun said at an embassy event dedicated to 22nd anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy on Feb. 25.
“The memory of the Khojaly genocide victims is revered worldwide, including Turkey,” he added.
“Informing the world about the Khojaly genocide is the duty of our conscience,” he said. “Together with Azerbaijan we are trying to tell the world about this tragedy.”
During the event, the representative of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Saadeddin Topugchu stressed that one must remember these bloody events.
“We share the grief of our Azerbaijani brothers,” he stressed.
In her speech, Azerbaijani MP Malahat Ibrahimgizi stressed that the Khojaly genocide is a tragedy for the whole Turkic world and the perpetrators of this tragedy must answer for their actions.
MP Yaqub Mahmudov stressed that one must not forget this bloody page of history.
He stressed that the Armenians had committed crimes against the Turks throughout history. Serzh Sargsyan, who committed a crime against the Azerbaijani people, is now the Armenian president.
“Why do countries and international organisations talking about justice, not see it?” Mahmudov said.
The participants revered the memory of the Khojaly tragedy victims by a minute’s silence. Then, a film about the atrocities committed by Armenians in Khojaly was shown. It was produced by the Turkish TRT TV channel.
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
