Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.27
By Ilkin Izzet - Trend:
Khojaly tragedy is the common grief of Azerbaijan and Turkey, Head of the Turkey-Azerbaijan Interparliamentary friendship group Necdet Unuvar said.
He made the remarks during a meeting with the representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora and the chairman of the Federation of Turkish-Azerbaijani Societies, Bilal Dundar, Azerbaijani State Committee on Work with Diaspora said on Feb.27.
During the meeting, Unuvar urged the international community, all international structures to be attentive towards the issue of occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia.
"We want the world to take steps for the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from occupation," he said, adding that Turkey will always support Azerbaijan.
Furthermore, he said that the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group in the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict haven't given any results so far, adding that Turkey and Azerbaijan demand achieving progress in this issue in the shortest possible time.
Bilal Dundar, for his part, emphasized the need to strengthen the activities of non-governmental organizations for liberation of Azerbaijani lands from occupation.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
On February 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops stationed in Khankendi committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly.
As a result of the massacre, some 613 people were killed, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people. Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. A total of 487 civilians became disabled as a result of the onslaught. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people remains unknown.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by SI