Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.20
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
Armenians always try to pass a lie for the historical truth, Azerbaijani MP Bakhtiyar Aliyev told Trend on Feb.20.
He was commenting on marking the "Artsakh Revival Day" in the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic".
The MP said that Armenians' dirty policy stands behind all this, adding that Armenians are people with no common sense and they simply want to create their false history.
"Azerbaijan hasn't waged war against anyone, on the contrary war was launched against it," said Aliyev. "The fact is that Armenians have occupied Azerbaijani lands, tens of thousands of Azerbaijanis were killed, Khojaly genocide was committed."
Aliyev expressed regret that instead of condemning such actions of Armenians, OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs call Azerbaijan for patience.
The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia 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.
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 on February 25-26, 1992.
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 U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by SI