 Adil ALIYEV, Deputy Chairman of Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan
February 26, 2021 marks the twenty-ninth anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, one of the most horrific tragedies of the last century. Khojaly genocide is a pain that nobody can forget.
On February 26, 1992, during the occupation of the city of Khojaly, the Armenian armed forces committed a genocide against the civilian population of the city, located in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of this act of vandalism, 613 civilians, including 106 women, 63 children, and 70-year-olds were brutally killed, 8 families were annihilated, 25 children lost both parents, 130 children lost one parent, 487 civilians were injured and 1275 people were taken, hostage. The fate of 150 hostages remains unknown.
Furthermore, we have I want to give feedback about international law regarding genocide. The following instruments must be considered as а legal basis for qualifying the massacre in Khojaly as an international crime. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (came into force in 1951) adopted by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1948 (resolution 260 (III)). At the same time, there were many cases about it one of them is the Statute of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal, the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the Statute of the International Criminal Court, etc.
We regret to say that Armenia’s long-term policy of aggression against our country, especially the Khojaly genocide, has not received the necessary assessment by the world community. In this sense, we would like to emphasize that what happened in Khojaly is not only genocide against the Azerbaijani people but also a bloody crime against humanity. The horrific genocide that took place on the verge of the 21st century is a clear example of the dangers that humanity still faces.
The expression of solidarity of the world with Azerbaijan on such issues will help to prevent the recurrence of such cases not only in Azerbaijan but worldwide.
We call all people to comment on the genocide committed against Azerbaijan twenty-nine years ago, and we hope by taking the appropriate decision in this regard.
We call on the international community to resolutely condemn the act of aggression committed by Armenia against Azerbaijan, as well as deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, call on to ensure that Armenia fulfills its obligations under international law and international humanitarian law, we also consider it necessary to adopt a document with the relevant legal and a political assessment of the Khojaly genocide to form a fair public opinion about the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, which, in turn, will help prevent the repetition of such cases not only in Azerbaijan but throughout the world.
