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The memory of the victims of the Khojaly genocide was commemorated in Paris with the joint organization of the Azerbaijani Embassy in France, the Permanent Representation to UNESCO and the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

As Azernews reports, citing Azertac, Azerbaijani Ambassador to France Leyla Abdullayeva, Permanent Representative to UNESCO Elman Abdullayev, Head of the Azerbaijan-France Inter-parliamentary Relations Working Group, Department Director of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Soltan Mammadov spoke about the actions of Armenia against Azerbaijan at the event held at the Cultural Center of the country's embassy in France.

Speaking at the event, they stressed that the bloodiest page of the armed conflict was the genocide committed in the city of Khojaly 31 years ago, providing detailed information about the blockade of Khojaly, a strategic point in the region, by the Armenians, and the brutal killing of 613 women, children, and elderly people by Armenian armed forces on a cold winter night. It was noted that peaceful residents were taken hostage, and hundreds of people are still missing.

Ambassador Leyla Abdullayeva stated that the tragedy grossly violated international and humanitarian law, and cited articles published in the world media that clearly reflected the Armenian brutality in the Khojaly genocide. She noted that in the words of the Armenian president at that time, Serzh Sargsyan "Before Khojaly, Azerbaijanis thought that Armenians could not raise their hands against civilians. But we were able to break this stereotype", are his admission to a British journalist that he was one of the organizers of the bloody event.
Further, the ambassador compared the Khojaly genocide with the "martyr settlement" of Oradour-sur-Glane in France and said that this genocide will never be erased from memory as one of the most terrible tragedies in human history.

The diplomat noted that the events of Khojaly should be heard all over the world. She highlighted that with this purpose, on the initiative of the vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva, since 2008, the "Justice for Khojaly!" international campaign was launched, and thanks to this campaign, the parliaments of 17 countries of the world, 30 states of the USA and 2 international organizations recognized the Khojaly tragedy as genocide.

"I hope that the authorities of France will also recognize this massacre committed by Armenians against civilians. Justice cannot be restored until the criminal is punished. We do not demand revenge, but justice," Abdullayeva emphasized.

Moreover, Soltan Mammadov spoke about the facts and evidence that Armenia committed the crime of genocide against Azerbaijanis on the night of February 25-26, 1992. He spoke about the steps taken towards the recognition of the Khojaly genocide, the European Court of Human Rights assessment of the massacre of Khojaly's civilian population as "war crimes or crimes against humanity".

He also talked about the importance of the "Justice for Khojaly!" campaign which promoted this tragedy worldwide. He pointed out that Khojaly is an unparalleled page in the martyrdom history of the Azerbaijani people, and at the same time, it will always be publicized and studied as a universal crime.

Additionally, Permanent Representative to UNESCO Elman Abdullayev drew attention to the fact that Armenian militants killed people in Khojaly on a national basis and said that it is everyone's moral duty to build a future free from hatred and discrimination. Speaking about Khojaly's deep mark in the history of Azerbaijan, Abdullayev said that the killers of Khojaly should be brought to justice.

The event also presented a photo exhibition of the Khojaly genocide of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which made a worthy contribution to the dynamic development of Azerbaijan in all fields and the acceleration of the process of civil society building in our country, visually conveyed the inhuman murders of Armenian usurpers to the participants of the event.

The photo exhibition of the genocide presented by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which made a worthy contribution to the dynamic development of Azerbaijan in all fields and to the acceleration of the development process of the civil society in Azerbaijan, visually conveyed the inhuman murders of Armenian aggressors to the participants of the event.

The event continued with a concert dedicated to the memory of the Khojaly victims. At the concert, Honored artist, Tar player Sahib Pashazada, Azerbaijani violinist Sabina Rakcheyeva, a music group of French composer Pierre Thiloin performed samples of works by Fikret Amirov, Gara Garayev, Khayyam Mirzazade, and foreign composers.

The composition "Khojaly 613" dedicated to the Khojaly genocide by the French composer Pierre Thiloin was also performed at the concert.

Ambassadors accredited to France, permanent representatives to UNESCO, Ali Onaner, ambassador of Turkiye to France Gulnur Aybet, permanent representative of Türkiye to UNESCO, diplomats, representatives of the local community, as well as the Azerbaijani community, took part in the memorial ceremony.

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