Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Recognition of the Khojaly genocide committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis 20 years ago by the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) means that most Islamic countries will give a legal assessment to the events and it will be recognized by the whole international community, a senior Azerbaijani official has said.

Ali Hasanov, head of the Presidential Administration's social and political department, was commenting on the recent resolution adopted by the OIC ministerial council.

The council for the first time recognized the Khojaly tragedy as an act of genocide and called on the member states to support the "Justice for Khojaly" campaign in 2013.

Hasanov noted that Azerbaijan welcomes the recognition of the Khojaly genocide.

"Through the recognition of the Khojaly genocide we do not aim to establish a policy of vengeance in the South Caucasus and encourage the population's intention to avenge Armenians. By having this event recognized, we want such actions not to be repeated against mankind. We want Armenian vandalism to be adequately assessed in the world and the effect of anti-Azerbaijani propaganda to weaken."

Hasanov said that in general, the recognition of the Khojaly genocide will somewhat ease the grief of the people who survived it.

"The day will come when the international community will witness withdrawal of Armenian occupying forces and restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan," Hasanov said.

A relevant draft resolution was submitted to the OIC Council by the Istanbul-based Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (ICYF-DC). The resolution was adopted at the 39th session of the Council in Djibouti.

Head of the ICYF-DC delegation, Elmaddin Mehdiyev, said the draft resolution submitted by the Forum contained a separate clause on "Justice for Khojaly" campaign initiated by Leyla Aliyeva, General Coordinator of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation.

Under that clause, the OIC Council calls on the OIC member states and bodies to actively participate in and support the activity of the campaign and make an effort for recognition of this genocide as a crime against humanity internationally.

Justice, not revenge needed

Azerbaijan does not call for revenge, it needs only justice over the Khojaly genocide committed by the Armenians, MP Asim Mollazade said at the Seventh General Assembly of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) held in Baku last Thursday.

"The Khojaly town of Azerbaijan was absolutely destroyed, a lot of children, women and elderly people were cruelly killed and burned. If war criminals, who committed these crimes, are not brought before an international court of law, they will do this again," Mollazade said.

He said Azerbaijan expresses its appreciation to the parliaments of Pakistan and Mexico for recognizing this genocide.

"We need help from politicians all around the world to stop this kind of genocide. We have to join our efforts and create a system of justice in the world," he added.

Mollazade said further that Azerbaijan has extensive experience on cultural cooperation, as well as cooperation of civilizations.

"Right now independent Azerbaijan has huge projects on restoration of silk roads and the transport system," he said. "Azerbaijan is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the transport system linking China and Europe, hundreds of millions of dollars in the international communication system and the creation of an information hub in the region. We unite Europe and Asia. We need building peace, security and prosperity in our part of the world."

Mass killings

The town of Khojaly was situated within the administrative borders of the Nagorno Karabakh region of the country, on the Agdam-Shusha road, Khankendi (Stepanakert)-Askeran, near the only airport of the region.

Its population constituted over 7,000 people. Because of its communication advantage of having a civilian airport, just before the start of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict it had become a shelter for refugee Meskhet Turks who fled the bloody inter-ethnic clashes in Central Asia as well as Azerbaijani refugees deported from Armenia.

Late into the night of February 25, 1992, the town came under intensive fire from the town of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by Armenian forces. At night the Armenian armed forces supported by the ex-Soviet 366th regiment completed the surrounding of the town already isolated due to ethnic cleansing of the Azerbaijani population of its neighboring regions. The joint forces occupied the town, which was ruined by heavy artillery shelling.

Under these conditions the towns' residents stepped into the darkness of the night to be met along the away by an ambush of Armenian forces. Several thousand fleeing civilians were ambushed in several locations and, faced with heaving shooting, they tried to find refuge in the nearby forests and mountainous areas. However, punitive teams of the so-called NK defense army, after eliminating a handful of policemen accompanying the refugees, reached the unprotected civilians to slaughter them, mutilating and scalping some bodies as the notorious Karabakh war "trophies".

In just a few hours, 613 civilians were killed, including 106 women, 70 elderly and 83 children. A total of 1,000 civilians were disabled. 56 people were killed with outrageous brutality, eight families were totally exterminated, and 25 children lost both parents, while 130 children lost at least one parent, in what became the most brutal punishment of civilians during the three years of the conflict's military phase. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 remains unknown.