Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 23 / Trend K. Zarbaliyeva /
The municipality of the Turkish city Giresun and Giresun University organized the panel called "20th anniversary of the Khojaly massacre" with the support of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Turkey.
Ambassador Faig Bagirov paid a working visit to Giresun to participate in this event on Feb. 19 -20. Bagirov met with Giresun governor Dursun Ali Sahin and chairman of the Municipality Kerim Aksu, the embassy told Trend today.
The event "20th anniversary of the Khojaly massacre" was held on Feb. 20. A photo exhibition about the Khojaly genocide was opened. The participants got the materials and books about Khojaly. Sahin, Aksu, deputy chairman of the General Directorate of State Archives under the Prime Minister Mustafa Budag, director of the Center for Armenian Studies of the Turkish Historical Society Kemal Cicek, as well as the commander of the Giresun gendarmerie, students and teachers of the Giresun University and the local population attended the event.
The Azerbaijani people during their long history faced many troubles, survived the tragedy, the ambassador said. But the Khojaly tragedy is the worst one among all these evils. Khojaly events have shown that the Armenians not only claim to Azerbaijani territories, but also chose a wild, barbaric way, as genocide.
Giresun governor stressed the successful development of relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey in all fields. He added that Turkey uniquely protects Azerbaijan's position in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Then a film, shot by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation was demonstrated.
The Armenian military forces committed genocide in Khojaly on Feb. 26, 1992. Some 613 people were killed, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old men. A total of 1,000 civilians were disabled during the genocide. Eight families were annihilated, 130 children lost one parent, and 25 lost both. Additionally, 1,275 peaceful residents were
taken hostage, while the fate of 150 remains unknown.
