Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.20 / Trend /
Young Azerbaijani girl from Khojaly Zarifa Guliyeva wrote letters to presidents of Armenia and France Serzh Sargsyan and Nicolas Sarkozy demanding to recognize the Khojaly genocide.
"My name is Zarifa Guliyeva, an Azerbaijani girl from the ghost town of Khojaly in Karabakh. You must be familiar with Khojaly not only because you are a native of historical Azerbaijani town of Khankendi, which in Soviet times was renamed to Stepanakert. And, certainly, not because Khojaly is located near the historic town of Aghdam, which, in your own words, is "not your land." By the way, such assertion, made in 2009, in Yerevan, during a meeting with representatives of the Azerbaijani and Armenian intellectuals, did not stop you from renaming Aghdam to Acne," the letter to President Sargsyan says.
Zarifa Guliyeva expressed her confidence that President Sargsyan is aware that "Khojaly - is a town, where on February 26, 1992, as a result of the monstrous crimes carried out by the occupying Armenian forces, 613 people were killed and more than 1275 were taken prisoners, 150 people went missing, 487 became disabled".
Describing the events in Khojaly, Guliyeva appeals to President Sargsyan, "If you have any doubts about the choice of words describing such a crime against humanity, then I'll tell you the fact, that Khojaly is a sister town of the Czech Lidice, which during the Second World War was almost entirely wiped out by German Nazis. May I also remind you that international advocacy organization "Human Rights Watch" called the tragedy in Khojaly as "the largest massacre of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."
According to this watchdog organization, the Armenian armed forces were directly responsible for the deaths of civilians."
"20 years have passed since this heinous crime, genocide against Azerbaijanis. 20 years - this is how old I am, Zarifa Guliyeva, a native of Khojaly. In Khojaly my family was almost entirely killed - my young brother, grandmother, uncle - a total of 22 members of my family. My family was brought up by my mother; she raised us and gave us the most important thing in life - love to my country and understanding the value of a human life. These values are given to us by a woman, whose four bullet and shrapnel wounds serve as a daily reminder of the actions of Armenian occupying forces.
These shrapnel pieces live in all of us, people of Khojaly, reminding us of the horrors of that night, the massacre committed by Armenian militants," the letter addressed to President Sargsyan says.
Appealing to the Armenian president Zarifa Guliyeva writes, "I know that you have two daughters, Anush and Satenik. They are future mothers. Now, ask yourself and your daughters: what was the fault of those 106 women and 63 children, killed by Armenian fascists in Khojaly? Would you or your daughters want someone from their family and friends to live through such a horrible fate? I read a book by a British journalist Thomas de Waal, "Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through peace and war." One of the passages quoted: "Sarkisian's summation of what had happened, however, was more honest and more brutal: 'But I think the main issue was quite different. Before Khojali, the Azerbaijanis thought that they were joking with us; they thought that the Armenians were people who could not raise their hand against the civilian population. We were able to break that [stereotype]." Did you let your daughters read this book, Mr. Sargsyan? I do not think they will be proud of the fact that their father considers murdering women, children and the elderly as a good tool to make sure that we see Armenians as people, who do not believe in sacred values of humanism, benevolence, compassion, respected by all religions and nations of the world".
There is another moment in the same book by Thomas de Waal where it once again quotes you: "Asked about the taking of Khojali, the Armenian military leader Serzh Sarkisian said carefully, 'We don't speak loudly about these things'".
In her letter Guliyeva asks to give a fair assessment of the Khojaly genocide.
"20 years has passed since the Genocide of Azerbaijani civilians in Khojaly. I think it is time to speak out loud about this horrible crime, Mr.President. It would be the right thing to do if you give a fair assessment of the Khojaly genocide, pleaded guilty to the crimes of the Armenian militants that you were also a part of. I'm not asking you to repeat the outstanding, in terms of depth of repentance for a crime, committed by his people, act of Chancellor Willy Brandt of Germany, who on December 7, 1970, was on his knees before the monument to the victims of the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto, where Jews were taken away to their deaths in Treblinka and Auschwitz," the letter says.
The letter also asks to acknowledge responsibility of the Armenian side for perpetrating genocide of Azerbaijani civilians in Khojaly.
"I'm just asking you to acknowledge responsibility of the Armenian side for perpetrating genocide of Azerbaijani civilians in Khojaly. This step can be a radically new chapter in the settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This move would be a good start in creating the atmosphere of trust between our countries and nations that was destroyed by the killers of the people of Khojaly. I am confident, that the world will give a fair assessment of the Genocide of Azerbaijani civilians in Khojaly. Likewise, I'm sure there is no eternal conflict and that the neighboring nations, sooner or later will live in peace and mutual trust. But it is up to you to see that it happens with or without your participation. Only you can decide to either go down in history as a politician, who was able to accept the responsibility for the mistakes of himself and his people and helped bring justice and peace between our nations, or someone, who feared to acknowledge the crime, but rather - preferred not to "speak loudly about these things", the letter says.
In her letter to French President Zarifa Guliyeva suggested him to make a choice - "whether to remain in history as a politician who helped the justice to triumph or as a person who was afraid to call these acts a crime and considered his interests above all".
"I am 20 years old. Exactly as many years passed from the day genocide was committed against the peaceful Azerbaijani population of Khojaly city - one of the most dreadful tragedies of the last century," Zarifa Guliyeva said in her letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
"Are you familiar with the name - Khojaly? On February 26, 1992, as a result of a horrid crime committed by the aggressive Armenian armed forces in this ancient settlement of Azerbaijan, 613 people were killed, 1275 were taken prisoners of war, 150 missing, 487 were brutally mutilated. The only "fault" of these people was their Azerbaijani nationality. You tell me, if this is not GENOCIDE, then what is?", the letter says.
The letter goes on : "If you are having a hard time finding words to characterize this crime against humanity, I can tell you that Khojaly has become a sister city of the Lidice city of the Czech Republic - once practically razed to the ground by German fascists during the Second World War. This is a very instructive fact: two cities, which had shared the same destiny of facing the atrocities of a crime against humanity, became twin towns."
"I know that you are a happy husband and a father. Your beautiful wife Carla Bruni has blessed you with a daughter, named Julia, on October 19, 2011. I pray to God for this little girl to grow healthy and happy. She has every opportunity available to her. But I ask you to take into account the fact that among those perished in Khojaly by Armenian forces, there were 106 women and 63 children. Trust in my honesty when I say that I have been unable to find an answer to this question: I wonder what is more horrible?: Being killed from the hands of bloodthirsty executioners or living with a recognition that I will never be able to bring back my father, who died in Khojaly and remained there forever?! I believe, you as a father, can imagine what it means for a child to grow without a dad, to lose his support in life - one of his parents. Besides my father, my little brother, grandmother, and uncles were also killed in Khojaly. Overall, our family lost 22 members at that terrible night," the letter addressed to the French President says.
She writes: "We were brought up by our mother. She educated us and taught the most important values in life. We will never forget Khojaly, because four bullet wounds my mom received at that horrible night and the shell-splinters she still carries in her body are constant reminders. These splinters reduce my mother's life; they make her recall the horrors of Khojaly every day. These kinds of splinter wounds exist in our hearts - in the hearts of every Khojaly resident."
In her letter Zarifa writes to President Sarkozy that along with Azerbaijani journalist Chingiz Mustafayev, Russian TV reporter Yuri Romanov, who had visited the place of Khojaly tragedy, recalled the moment of arrival at the place of death of civilians as following : "I look through the illuminator of the helicopter and the unbelievably frightening sight that opens in front of my eyes literally traumatizes me. Bodies of dead people are lying on the yellow grass lawn at the shadowy foothills of a mountain, where pellets of snow and hoar-frosts deposited in winter are melting. All this vast area to the near horizon, littered with the corpses of women, old men and women, boys and girls of all ages, from infant to teenager. Eye pulls out of the mess of bodies, two figures - a grandmother and a little girl. Grandma, with a white head uncovered, lying face down next to the tiny girl in a blue jacket with a hood. The feet are somehow connected with barbed wire. The hands of the grandmother are also tied up. Both shot in the head. The last gesture of a small, four years old, the girl stretched out her arms to the dead grandmother. Stunned, I did not even think of the camera ..."
"I would really want to look into your eyes after you read these memoires. I believe in those eyes I would see tears and heartache of a brave person, who is capable of sharing other peoples' pain. Therefore I hope that you will be able to provide worthy and fair assessment of the genocide, committed against the Azerbaijanis in Khojaly," the latter says.
In her letter Guliyeva expresses her desire to believe that Nicolas Sarkozy and the "Union for a Popular Movement" Party, headed by him, will initiate the discussion of the law on the recognition of the Khojaly genocide in the French Senate. By doing this you would be able to change the latest impression formed in Azerbaijan about you and refute the talks concerning your direct dependence on the Armenian Diaspora and lobby in the French Senate. You left this impression on the Azerbaijani people especially, after you initiated the adoption of the draft law intending to arrest and penalize those who do not consider the 1915 incidents during the Ottoman Empire as a genocide against Armenians," Zarifa writes.
"Presidents come and go, but it is the politicians who leave their names in history through their actions. Your personal initiative on fair assessment by the French Senate of those who committed the genocide against civilian Azerbaijan population in Khojaly will be a good opportunity for your name to remain in the history of Azerbaijani-French relations," she notes.
Understanding how tough this step will be, Zarifa also informs that the "Human Rights Watch" international human rights advocacy organization has described the Khojaly genocide as the "largest massacre to date in the Armenian-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict". According to this organization, the Armenian armed forces carry direct responsibility for the civilian deaths, she writes.
"Time goes on fast. It is entirely possible that 20 years on from the day I was deprived of the opportunity to see my native lands, 20 years after the Khojaly genocide, this crime against humanity will be known around the world. Thus, the decision is yours. You and only You can decide whether you want to remain in history as a politician who helped the justice to triumph or as a person who was afraid to call these acts a crime and considered his interests above all."