Demonstrations to commemorate the victims of the Khodjaly genocide are taking place in 50 different countries. Alexei Vlasov, editor-in-chief of Vestnik Kavkaza, addressed his words to societies of the post-Soviet countries to prevent a new similar tragedy.
“We forget too much when we think only in statistical numbers. Formal numbers of victims - 1,2, 100, 1000 – make a difference for many, as does the false idea of political reasonableness. We forget that among those killed on this horrible night were children, 106 women and 70 elderly people and, regardless of our nationality, should be ashamed of how we, who used to live in one common house called the Soviet Union, could allow this to happen and then to forget it. The words “it should never happen again” are very simple and used too often, but they have a very deep meaning. It is necessary to know and feel history to speak and act according to the highest models, and not forget the evil, commemorate the dead and build a peaceful and fair future for the children.
Once in Baku I was in a restaurant with a friend of mine, a successful 50-year old businessman, and when remembering some episode of his life he started to cry. I asked him what happened. And he replied: “You know, the graves of my mother and father are in Shusha, and as a good son I should go there but I cannot do so. Am I a good son after this?” The difference in mentality is of course high here, those who know the Azeri mentality will understand this story differently, but for any man the graves of his ancestors are sacred and when he cannot commemorate them, this tortures him from inside, much more than small daily problems and family disagreements. It is the same as losing a child, although it is scary to say these words. A simple story, simple emotions, but we need to remember that the world around us is build from 1000 of these stories.
At a time when we talk about geopolitical strategies, about economics, pipelines, oil and gas, there is nothing more impressive than the tears of a mother who lost two sons that tragic night. This is the main reason why we should remember this and we should live to prevent this from happening again.”
