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26 February 2020

An event dedicated to the 28th anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy was held at the Jewish Museum and Center for Tolerance in Moscow.

Representatives of the Russian public, Azerbaijani Diaspora, foreign ambassadors accredited in Moscow came to commemorate the innocent victims of the Khojaly tragedy.

Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu, who opened the memorial evening, recalled that, 28 years ago, on the night of February 26, 1992, Armenian armed groups with the support of the 366th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the former USSR attacked the Azerbaijani city of Khojaly in Karabakh. The city of Khojaly was destroyed in one night. Wanting to escape death, innocent people turned to the snowy mountains and were shot by Armenian armed groups on their way. The ambassador said: “The exact number of victims is unknown. Undoubtedly, their actual number is much higher than the figures given in official sources. However even these numbers are terrifying.  Just imagine, 613 people were killed in a matter of hours, 487 people became disabled, 1275 civilians - the elderly, children, and women were captured, the fate of 155 people is still unknown. This was a real genocide committed with special cruelty.

Most of the victims were burned alive, some were beheaded, some had their eyes gouged out, whose ears were cut off, traces of insult were found on the bodies of pregnant women”.

The diplomat noted that, “It is impossible to forget this tragic page in the history of our people. Recently, the meeting was held in Munich between the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, where Mr. President once again demonstrated his determination to defend the legitimate interests of Azerbaijan. Mr. President cited a number of indisputable facts backed up by historical data, international law as well as UN Security Council resolutions that calls for the unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from our territory, proving the belonging of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan,  and he strengthened his thesis with numerous references”, - said P. Bulbuloglu.

According to the ambassador, despite the fact that the perpetrators are well known and they practically confess to this crime, no one has yet been held accountable for this act of genocide committed in the eyes of the world community.

The ambassador said “We cannot turn back the wheel of history, we cannot bring back those who died, but we can tell the world truth about what happened in Khojaly so that such a tragedy does not happen again, and we are obliged to do so. For this purpose, on the initiative of Leyla Aliyeva, Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Chairwoman of the Azerbaijani Youth Union of Russia, "Justice for Khojaly!" movement was founded and the movement has brought together hundreds of thousands of young people around the world.

They see their mission in conveying the truth about the Khojaly genocide to citizens of different countries”.