Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 27 / Trend M.Aliyev /
The Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles with the participation of Azerbaijani and Turkish communities held an event devoted to the 18th anniversary of the Khojali genocide, the consulate reported.
The Khojali tragedy is one of the bloodiest chapters in the history of the Azerbaijani people and Azerbaijani and Turkish communities must deliver the truth about this genocide to the world, Consul Elman Abdullayev said.
It's high time for the international community to evaluate fairly the brutality committed by the military against peaceful and unarmed people.
"The tragedy faced that the Azerbaijani people faced in the early years of its independence, will remain forever in the memory of future generations of the country," said the teacher of Los Angeles University of California Altay Goyushov during his speech at the event.
Despite the fact that the Azerbaijani people for their long history have experienced many tragedies, they have always been peace-loving people, Dr. Nariman Gasimoglu said.
A film about the Khojali genocide was demonstrated at the event.
Armenian military forces committed genocide acts in the town of Khojali, Azerbaijan, with the population of 7,000 people on Feb. 26 1992. There were 3,000 people in the town at the time of Armenian military forces' attack. Most part of the population had to leave town during four months blockade. 613 people were killed, 1,000 peaceful people of different age became invalid during Khojali genocide. 106 women, 63 children, 70 old men were killed. 8 families were completely annihilated, 130 children lost one parents, while 25 both of them. 1,275 peace residents were taken hostages, while the fate of 150 of them is still unknown.