BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.29
Trend:
Co-chairman of the Azerbaijan Caucus at the US Congress, member of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs Steve Chabot made a statement on Feb. 26, 2020 on Khojaly genocide, Trend reports with reference to the Azerbaijani embassy in the US.
The statement was included in the agenda of the Congress, and on Feb. 26 Chabot also took part in the event held in the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy.
With a sense of deep sorrow Chabot paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the Khojaly massacre, which he called the darkest chapter in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.
Chabot stressed that in the fall of 1991, Armenian and Soviet forces surrounded the town of Khojaly in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. After bombarding the city, these forces attacked Khojaly on the night of February 25-February 26, killing more than 600 innocent Azerbaijanis, including women, children and the elderly.
Citing the Human Rights Watch 1992 report, Chabot said that the attacks on fleeing civilians "deliberately disregarded ... customary law restraint'' and as a result, innocent civilians were injured, some of whom died and some were forced to leave the city.
He added that the victims of Khojaly remind everyone of the value of peace.
Chabot expressed regret that Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is still ongoing, despite the efforts of the United States and international community to foster a negotiated settlement.
"I call on all parties involved to productively engage with the Minsk Process to find a peaceful resolution to this decades-old conflict."
Having paid tribute to the memory of those who died in these appalling events, the congressman once again called on his colleagues to join him and the Azerbaijani people to remember this tragedy.