Khojaly massacre leaves a dark stain on the history of humanity: Türkiye

Türkiye commemorates the 32nd anniversary of what is now known as the Khojaly massacre – the darkest few hours in the history of Azerbaijan, in which Armenian forces mass-killed hundreds of Azerbaijani civilians.

The 1992 Khojaly massacre left a “dark stain on the history of humanity,” Türkiye has said.

“We strongly condemn the massacre of innocent civilians by Armenian armed forces in Khojaly, Azerbaijan on 26 February 1992,” a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said on Monday, marking the 32nd anniversary of the massacre.

“We still feel the pain of our 613 brothers and sisters who were killed in Khojaly and all Azerbaijanis wounded, captured or went missing on that day in our hearts,” it added.

The ministry reiterated its condolences to the Azerbaijani people.

The Karabakh region had been the site of mass killings and burials since the First Karabakh War in the early 1990s, during which the Armenian military occupied Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, including Khojaly.

The town was the site of a two-hour Armenian offensive that killed 613 Azerbaijani civilians — including 106 women, 63 children, and 70 elderly people — and seriously injured 487 others, according to Azerbaijani figures.

Some 150 of the 1,275 Azerbaijanis that the Armenians captured during what has now been called the Khojaly massacre remain missing, while eight families were completely wiped out.

The road to massacre

The chain of events leading to the massacre began in the second half of the 1980s with the dissolution of the Soviet Union when Armenia claimed rights to the mountainous part of the Karabakh region, a territory internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.

As a result of the policies pursued by the Soviet Union over the years, the Armenian population was the majority in the region, which, however, legally belonged to Azerbaijan.

Tensions escalated when Armenians in the Karabakh region expressed their desire to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia in 1988. The Karabakh Parliament declared its annexation to Armenia. In response, Azerbaijan abolished the autonomous status of Karabakh.

Months of escalating tensions ultimately led to an unavoidable conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Supported by the Russian army, Armenian forces seized control of Khojaly town in the final days of 1991. Khojaly, having the region's only airport and holding significant strategic value, fell under Armenian occupation.

'Ethnic cleansing and genocide'

Azerbaijan commemorated the 32nd anniversary of the Khojaly massacre.

Commemorative events are taking place across the country, including the capital Baku, to honour the memory of those killed.

A day earlier, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that a “policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide” against Azerbaijanis was carried out by Armenia along with “crimes against humanity” in various settlements in the region.

The ministry said that one of the worst atrocities in this regard was committed against residents of Khojaly.

The statement said that the use of heavy weaponry, investigative materials on atrocities committed against local civilians, eyewitness testimonials, as well as the confession of top Armenian officials at the time are proof that the event was a planned and “deliberate crime of genocide.”

It further said the massacre grossly violated international humanitarian law, human rights law, and various international conventions, indicating that the failure to end Armenia’s impunity led to the continuation of existing practices.

“From this perspective, the world community’s support for measures taken at the national and international level to end the impunity of criminals, as well as collaboration in this field are critical,” the statement said.

TRTWORLD - Photo AA archive