Thirty-two years ago, the Khojaly genocide was committed, and Khojaly city was occupied by the Armenian armed forces, with the help of the post-Soviet army’s 366th Motor Rifle Regiment.

On the night of February 25 to 26, 1992, Armenian forces, with the help of the former Soviet 366th Motor Rifle Regiment, invaded Khojaly village, which had been under blockade since October 1991. All roads leading to the city were blocked, and the only available transport was via helicopter. Continuous gunfire began on the evening of February 25, 1992. When 2,500 civilians remaining in the village left their territory with the hope of reaching Aghdam, Armenians started to shoot at people.

As a result of this tragedy, 613 Khojaly civilians, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly people, were killed. Eight families were annihilated, 130 children lost one of their parents, and another 25 lost both of them. 76 out of 487 people wounded by an enemy bullet were children. 1,275 Khojaly residents were taken prisoner, and 150 went missing.

On the initiative of Azerbaijan’s national leader Heydar Aliyev, in February 1994, the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan gave a legal and political assessment of this crime, issuing a resolution. The document describes the causes of the tragedy and its perpetrators.

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation is systematically and consistently working to bring the facts of the Khojaly genocide to the world. With the Heydar Aliyev Foundation’s support and organization, a series of events, exhibitions, and memorial events are held in several countries around the world within the framework of this project.

The “Justice for Khojaly” international campaign initiated by Leyla Aliyeva, the Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, General Coordinator of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, is one of the purposeful measures to convey the correct information about the Khojaly genocide to the world and achieve the international recognition of this tragedy as an act of genocide against the people of Azerbaijan. Thus, relevant decisions have been made on this genocide act in several countries. It is no coincidence that parliamentarians of 51 countries adopted the respective resolution on recognition of the Khojaly tragedy as an international genocide at the 7th session of the Parliamentary Union of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Palembang, Indonesia in January 2012.

The “Justice for Khojaly” international information campaign is being successfully implemented in dozens of countries and aims to recognize the tragedy at the moral and political level. At present, the parliaments of Pakistan, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Colombia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and others have recognized the Khojaly tragedy as genocide and criminal acts against Azerbaijan. Besides, more than 20 state legislatures of the United States recognized the Khojaly genocide.

President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on February 13, 2014, on the Justice for Khojaly campaign, given its importance.

The Khojaly genocide must receive a fair assessment, and those responsible for this terrible tragedy must suffer a well-deserved punishment.

The Azerbaijani people will never forget the Khojaly tragedy.

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