Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 23 / Trend M. Aliyev /
The eighth session of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC PS) held in Khartoum (Sudan), which adopted a resolution recognizing the Khojaly tragedy as a genocide, has been completed, the headquarters of the Youth Forum of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC MF) in Istanbul reported on Wednesday.
The organization brings together the parliaments of 51 OIC member countries and meets every two years in one of the countries of Africa, Asia or the Arab region.
As part of the initiative launched by the Youth Forum of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC YF) and the resolution on "Cooperation between the OIC PU and the OIC YF", under the section devoted to the "Justice for Khojaly" campaign, the Khojaly tragedy is recognized as a genocide committed by Armenian armed forces against Azerbaijani civilians, and is called a crime against humanity.
Also, the resolution "demands justice against the perpetrators of the Khojaly massacre," attaches high value to the activities of the "Justice for Khojaly" international campaign initiated by General Coordinator of the OIC Youth Forum, Leyla Aliyeva.
The resolution, adopted unanimously by the speakers and members of the national parliaments of the OIC Member States, calls for support for the campaign and to give proper legal assessment of the tragedy at the national level.
It should be noted that the 39th session of the OIC Foreign Ministers, held in November of last year in Djibouti, adopted a resolution on the initiative of the OIC YF, recognizing the Khojaly tragedy as a genocide and a crime against humanity.
On Feb. 25-26 February, 1992, Armenian occupation forces together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops stationed in Khankendi (earlier Stepanakert) fired on the Azerbaijani town of Khojali that had been under siege for months; within one night the town was razed to the ground. 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, 1275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 remains unknown.