Daily Times

February 26, 2024, is the 32nd anniversary of the Khojaly genocide committed by the Armenian armed forces against the Azerbaijanis.

On February 26, 1992, an unprecedented massacre was committed against the Azerbaijani population in the town of Khojaly. This bloody tragedy, which was recognized as the Khojaly genocide, involved the extermination or capture of thousands of Azerbaijanis; the town was razed to the ground. Over the night from 25 to 26 February 1992 the Armenian armed forces with the help of the infantry guards regiment No. 366 of the former USSR, occupied Khojaly. Invaders destroyed Khojaly and with particular brutality implemented carnage over its peaceful population.

As a result of the Khojaly genocide 5,379 inhabitants of the city were forcefully expelled. 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly citizens, were brutally murdered. 1,275 were captured, taken hostage, and tortured, and 487 were injured. The actions of the armed forces of Armenia tore families apart. Eight families were left with no survivors. 130 children lost a parent, 25 children lost both parents.

The targeted massacre of civilians in Khojaly was a crime stemming from a policy of ethnic hatred and racial discrimination against Azerbaijanis at the state level in Armenia and was aimed at massacring people simply because of their ethnicity.

The Khojaly massacre and other crimes committed by Armenia in the course of its aggression against the Republic of Azerbaijan, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, constitute serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. These include violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and others.

Azerbaijan’s National Leader Heydar Aliyev unveiled the essence of the Khojaly genocide and in February 1994, the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan gave legal and political assessment of this crime, issuing a resolution. The document describes the causes of the tragedy and its perpetrators.

The campaign “Justice for Khojaly,” organized and continuously implemented by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and aimed at international recognition and legal and political evaluation of this criminal act, is of great importance in terms of enhancing public awareness of this tragic event at the international level and demonstrating significant resistance against mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and cases of racial, religious, and ethnic discrimination. As a result of the activities carried out within the framework of the campaign, the legislative bodies of about 20 countries, including Pakistan, 24 states in the United States, as well as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Organization of Turkic States, condemned this heinous mass killing, recognized it as genocide and adopted relevant decisions and resolutions.

This tragedy happened at the end of the century was not only against the Azerbaijani people, but it is one of the gravest crimes against humanity. The norms and principles of international law repeatedly condemned such war crimes as the Khojaly genocide and stated its unacceptability.

Under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani Army liberated the occupied territories from Armenian occupation in 44 days in 2020 and after the successful local anti-terrorism measures conducted by the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan on September 19, 2023, separatism and terrorism were eliminated from Karabakh and Azerbaijan fully restored its sovereignty. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev raised the national flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Khojaly city on October 15, 2023.

Liberation of Khojaly embodies our strength and solidarity, thus it is a bond of loyalty to the victims of the Khojaly genocide.

Azerbaijan believes that continuing measures taken at the national level and within the framework of current international law will serve to end impunity and bring those responsible for serious crimes committed during Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan to justice.

On this 32nd anniversary of the tragedy, the people of Azerbaijan remember with deepest respect and honor the memories of the innocent victims of Armenia’s ethnic hatred and genocidal crimes, including the Khojaly genocide.