A resident of the town of Khojaly, forced migrant Jamshid Huseynov, has sent an appeal through the media to the Russian opera singer Lyubov Kazarnovskaya, who illegally visited the occupied Azerbaijani lands this summer. Vestnik Kavkaza publishes the text of the appeal.
Moscow, to famous Russian opera singer
Lyubov Kazarnovskaya
From a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan,
resident of the city of Khojali, forced migrant
Huseynov Jamshid Huseyn oglu
ADDRESS
Dear Lyubov Yuryevna!
I have to appeal to you in connection with your visit to the occupied lands of Azerbaijan and ‘cultural projects’ that you plan to implement there.
I myself rarely watch TV, but my friends and acquaintances who have seen you in a variety of television programs say you give an impression of an honest person, not without a sense of justice. So I think you will understand me.
I was born and lived for many years in the small Azerbaijani town of Khojaly in Nagorno-Karabakh. I do not know if you've heard about it, but now the city is in one category with Khatyn, Lidice, My Lai and Srebrenica, that is, a city in which there were terrible, chilling massacres of innocent, unarmed people. I cannot tell you that we were rich and had no worldly problems, but we were happy in our own land, near families and friends. And 23 years ago this happiness came to an end. In one night, the night of February 25th to 26th 1992, our city was annihilated by the Armenian armed forces with the support of the 366th regiment of the Russian army stationed nearby in Khankendi (there are hundreds of documents confirming the participation of the Russian military in the massacre, including those submitted by international human rights organizations). More than 600 residents of my town, children, women, old men were killed, thousands wounded and captured. Many of them I knew personally, they were our relatives, neighbors, because in small towns everyone is a relative to each other. I witnessed my father, mother, brother, cousin being killed. I myself was escaping from the besieged city through cold, snow-covered forests, without food or water or warm clothing for four days. There were bodies of dead people everywhere in the snow. They were desecrated: scalped, pierced by bayonets, pregnant women had their bellies ripped open (available for your attention a compact disc (CD) and a few pictures depicting the tragedy in Khojaly).
Bandits ranged everywhere left a humanitarian corridor so people could leave, but actually used it as a trap. But believe me, we as survivors of this terrible massacre would prefer to have died rather than be captured, because it was a real hell on earth. The blood in my veins freezes because of the stories of the people who managed to escape from this hell: prisoners were humiliated, degraded, burnt alive, beheaded. This is not a retelling of a horror film, it is a real picture of life. I hope that you, as a woman, you can feel the pain of the mother in front of whom there was a murder of her child, the despair of his father, who was unable to save his family. I think you also understand what it means to live more than two decades with such terrible memories.
At night I often dream of my parents, my brother, and I know that their spirits are restless. Because injustice is still ongoing, our lands are under occupation, our homes have been destroyed and ruined. I think you, while making trips to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, talking to people, trying to build their lives on land that is not theirs, indulge this injustice. Perhaps unwittingly, perhaps because you, like many others, have been misled, but the essence remains the same.
You know, our government cares about us. Beautiful, modern towns with all the necessary infrastructure were built for us. But, as is often said by our President Ilham Aliyev, this is still a temporary place of residence. We want to return to our homes, to our places, we want to raise our children and grandchildren there, to cultivate our land, to enjoy the beautiful nature of Karabakh. Do we want a lot? But we are deprived of this fundamental human right. I think that for you, as an artist, who must feel the world thinner and deeper, it is not so difficult to understand our pain, resentment, disappointment at the double standards of the world, which zealously protects the rights of some and ignores the rights of others.
You could argue that art is not involved in politics. But real life has proved many times and still proves that art and artists are often used as tools to achieve unseemly political goals. In your case it has been done to legitimize a separatist regime established by violence, mass killings of Azerbaijani civilians and ethnic cleansing.
We have heard that you are planning to open a center of Armenian opera in Shuha. Why there? What does Armenian opera mean for the ancient Azerbaijani city? I do not know whether or not you have heard (if you have heard, then your intentions seem blasphemous), but Karabakh and Shusha are called the natural conservatory of Azerbaijan. The genius Azerbaijani composer, Uzeyir Hajibeyli, was born and raised there, our outstanding tenor Bulbul, the incomparable Rashid Behbudov and many well-known musicians. Not Armenian, but Azerbaijani. Is not this a direct proof of who owns Karabakh? Whether the air or the water is the cause of this phenomenon, no one has found out, but every second Azerbaijani who was born in this land has a unique voice and perfect pitch. For good reason there is such a thing as ‘Karabakh Nightingales.’
Perhaps there are many places on the vast territories of Russia today where people would be sincerely grateful to you for the creation of an opera singing center and assistance in the search for young talents. As for Karabakh, it is necessary to open such an opera singing center. But only after these lands will be liberated from the occupation, when there will be peace, when Azerbaijanis return to their homes and begin to live there as it was before. We'd love to hear your singing in the liberated Shusha, Karabakh. Then it would be correct and fair!
Azerbaijan and Russia have very warm, sincere and friendly relations. We believe that each of us, and especially famous people, are responsible for strengthening these relations, and not to cause harm to them.
With best wishes of peace, tranquility, prosperity, stability and progress to our countries.
Huseynov Jamshid Huseyn oglu
