Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 26
Trend:
Members of the newly created Friends of Azerbaijan Club in the European Parliament adopted a statement on the 26th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide.
The Azerbaijani parliament told Trend that the initiative on adopting the statement was made by Andrejs Mamikins, a member of the European Parliament and a member of the European Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, and co-chair of the Friends of Azerbaijan Club. The statement is the first document adopted by the European Parliament on Khojaly massacre.
The statement says that the Azerbaijani people faced a brutal crime committed in Khojaly on Feb. 25-26, 1992, as a result of which 613 civilians, including 106 women, 63 children and 70 old people were killed, hundreds of people were seriously injured and 1,275 were taken hostage. Members of the European Parliament extended their condolences to relatives of those who lost their lives in the Khojaly massacre, expressed their sympathy, and emphasized that the Khojaly massacre should be remembered in order to prevent such crimes against humanity from happening again.
Commenting on the statement, co-chairman of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee Javanshir Feyziyev said the adoption of the statement is an important step taken by international organizations in assessing the genocide committed by Armenians in Khojaly 26 years ago.
The European Parliament regularly comments on developments in both Europe and the world as a whole, and it is, of course, important that its 22 members focus on the Khojaly genocide, a political assessment is given to the committed crimes, and those who lost their lives and their families are remembered, Feyziyev said.
Currently, 28 countries are represented by 8 political groups in the European Parliament, he noted.
It is also important that members who signed the statement represent 13 out of 28 countries and 6 out of 8 political groups, he added.
A member of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and Azerbaijani MP Azar Karimli, who praised the statement adopted by members of the European Parliament, said the statement is the result of an intensive and purposeful work carried out with members of the European Parliament after restoration of relations and another success of Azerbaijan’s parliamentary diplomacy.
Noting that the statement was put forward by members of the newly created Friends of Azerbaijan Club in the European Parliament, the MP stressed the importance of creating a friendship group within the European Parliament.
He added that the document will become a basis for more important documents to be adopted in the future, and it is important to work more closely and to establish closer ties with international parliamentary institutions.
The statement on Khojaly genocide was signed by 22 members of the European Parliament: Andrejs Mamikins (Latvia), Norica Nicolai (Romania), Iveta Grigule-Peterse (Romania), Ramona Manescu (Romania), Javier Nart (Spain), Tomas Zdechovský (Czech Republic), Hannu Takkula (Finland), Ivo Vajgl (Slovenia), Angelo Ciocca (Italy), Lorenzo Fontana (Italy), Marc Tarabella (Belgium), Cristian-Silviu Buşoi (Romania), Alberto Cirio (Italy), Boris Zala (Slovakia), Aldo Patriciello (Italy), Yana Toom (Estonia), Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Bulgaria), Franz Obermayr (Austria), Valentinas Mazuronis (Lithuania), Heidi Hautala (Finland), Angel Dzhambazki (Bulgaria) and Salvo Poglieze (Italy).
They represent 13 countries (out of 28) and 6 political groups (out of 8), including the organization’s vice-president.