Today is exactly 23 years since the date of one of the most bloody pages of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - the Khojaly tragedy. On February 25-26 1992, nationalist illegal armed groups with the help of infantry guards regiment No. 366 of the former USSR implemented the seizure of Khojaly - a small town situated in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan. As a result, 613 persons were killed, including women, children and elderly people. 487 people were injured, 1275 inhabitants were taken hostage, and the fate of many prisoners remains unknown to this day. This day for Azerbaijan is one of the worst in its history.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was one of the participants in a ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Khojaly tragedy, which took place near the monument to victims of the Khojaly massacre. In the presence of a guard of honor, Aliyev laid a wreath at the Khojaly massacre monument.
This date is mournful not only for Azerbaijan. Victims of the Khojaly tragedy are commemorated around the world. So, in the Israeli city of Acre a mourning meeting was held yesterday. Every year the Israel Azerbaijan International Association (AZIZ) holds a series of large-scale events in Israel on the anniversary of the tragedy with the participation of prominent public and political figures. Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs, member of the Knesset, Avigdor Lieberman and deputy of Milli Majlis, Fuad Muradov, who has specially arrived from Baku to participate in the activities, became the guests of honor.
The meeting was also attended by the President of AZIZ Alex Miller, the first deputy mayor of Acre Zeev Neuman and Deputy Mayor of Kiryat-Yam Adam Amilov, council member of Ma'alot Arkady Pomeranets, council member of Or Akiva Yossi Peysarov, council member of Nesher George Hershkowitz, council member of Kiryat Yam Margorita Kazakova and AZIZ representative in Azerbaijan Vahid Bayramov.
Every guest who came to the event went through a terrible gallery of photos - the silent evidence of mass murder. This photo exhibition, called "Justice for Khojaly" has been shown under the same name by AZIZ in many cities in Israel.
Opening the meeting, a member of the AZIZ directorate, Rauf Agalarov, read out historical information about the Khojaly tragedy and asked all participants to honor the memory of the hundreds of victims with a minute of silence. Then the word was given to the guests of honor.
Avigdor Lieberman in his speech thanked the current AZIZ president Alexei Miller and the first president Joseph Chagall for the great job they are doing to strengthen friendship and mutual understanding between Israel and Azerbaijan. And in conclusion, he said that "the history of mankind is rife with tragedies. They cannot be forgotten. But unfortunately, not everyone remembers them nor takes the lessons. We’re here today to combine the experience of Israel with that of Azerbaijan so that we could prevent such tragedies from happening in future".
Fuad Muradov thanked the leadership of AZIZ for a lot of work, particularly aimed at conveying to the Israeli public the truth about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "The Justice for Khojaly campaign is being held in more 100 countries," Fuad Muradov said. "It is very important that the world community know what price it will have to pay if people won't stop killing each other. We must unite and urge the world to tolerance," he added.
President of AZIZ Alex Miller expressed hope that next year the Justice for Khojaly campaign would be held in the building of the Knesset for better promotion of the Khojaly campaign.
Many world politicians and public figures have also expressed their condolences to the people of Azerbaijan.
"We commemorate our shahids, and pray for them. We express condolences to the Azerbaijani people and President Ilham Aliyev," APA cited President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying.
"Turkey gives all possible support to Azerbaijan in the light of the crimes committed by Armenians in Khojaly. The work is underway around the world, in Europe, Latin America and the United States," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. "We share the pain of the Azerbaijani people in connection with the genocide in Khojaly and curse those who participated in this crime," APA cited him as saying.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish Parliament made a declaration on the Khojaly tragedy. "We condemn the massacre committed by the Armenian armed formations and ongoing for years occupation of Azerbaijani lands," Trend cited the document. "We want to express our solidarity with our Azerbaijani brothers. In this case, we see the benefit in repeating the call to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Khojaly massacre, and Armenia should withdraw from Azerbaijan's occupied lands," the authors of the declaration say.
"These are days of remembrance. The deaths and tragic events of the past remain a source of pain. It's time for reconciliation," U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick posted on his Twitter page.
The Senate and the House of Representatives of the State of Indiana organized a funeral ceremony on February 23 in Indianapolis. Events dedicated to the Khojaly tragedy took place in many cities around the world, including Seoul, London, Milan, St. Petersburg, Dubai, Klaipeda, Islamabad, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Kiev and Bolnisi (Georgia).
