An event was held in Jerusalem, Israel, to revere the memory of the victims of one of the most terrible tragedies of the late 20th century, namely, the mass destruction of civilians by Armenian gangs in the Azerbaijani Khojaly city.
Natives of Azerbaijan living in Israel, as well as the entire Azerbaijani diaspora and the Azerbaijani people, mark the 30th anniversary of the tragedy this year, which stuck in the memory of the Azerbaijani people as an unhealed wound.
During the First Karabakh War, Armenia committed an act of genocide against the population of Azerbaijan’s Khojaly town consisting of 7,000 people on Feb. 26, 1992.
As many as 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 old people were killed as a result of the massacre. A total of 1,000 civilians became disabled in the onslaught. Eight families were completely annihilated, 130 children lost one parent, while 25 lost both parents. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken, hostage.
The Khojaly tragedy is just one moment of the aggressive policy pursued by Armenia to seize Azerbaijani lands, which resulted in the occupation of 20 percent of the indigenous Azerbaijani territories by Armenia.
During the opening remarks, Yegana Salman, director of Azerbaijan Cultural Center of “AzIz” Israel-Azerbaijan International Association, spoke about this tragedy for the people of Jerusalem who attended the event.
Chairperson of the Israel-Azerbaijan inter-parliamentary group, member of Knesset (Israeli parliament) Elina Bardach Yalov delivered a speech at the event, organized by the “AzIz” Azerbaijan-Israel International Association, and said that Jews, like no other people, understand and sympathize with the Azerbaijani people, who survived the brutal murder of civilians because of their nationality.
Azerbaijani MP Sevil Mikayilova, who arrived from Baku upon the instructions of the leadership of the Azerbaijani parliament, also delivered a speech at the event. Director of the “Pisgat Zeev” Cultural Center Mrs. Yael Cohen welcomed all the guests and thanked “AzIz” Azerbaijan-Israel International Association for organizing such an important event for the residents of Jerusalem.
Head of the Azerbaijan Tourism Representative Office in Israel Jamilya Talibzadeh, editor-in-chief of the “Passage” magazine, Doctor of Arts Narmina Agasi and other officials also attended the event.
Well-known pianist, laureate of international competitions Faghan Hasanli, who specially arrived from Baku and Israeli opera singer Camellia Ioffe performed Azerbaijani melodies and the works of the world classical music composers within a cultural program.