BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.17
Trend:
The head of the Azerbaijan-Indonesia Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group in the country's House of Representatives, Mohammad Igbal, issued a statement on behalf of the group in connection with the 29th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, Trend reports on Feb.17 citing the Azerbaijani Embassy in Indonesia.
According to the statement, during the First Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan, on the night of February 25-26, 1992 the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly was exposed to an act of genocide, during which 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 old people were killed, hundreds of people were heavily injured, and 1,275 residents were taken, hostage.
The document stressed that the persons who committed the crimes must be brought to responsibility.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries 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.
On Feb. 25-26, 1992, the Armenian Armed Forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of former Soviet troops, stationed in Khankendi city, committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly.
As many as 613 civil residents, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 old people were killed in the massacre, 1,000 people were injured, and 1,275 were taken, hostage. Most of the town residents haven’t returned from the hostage, and their fate still remains unknown. After the withdrawal of the 366th regiment from Khankendi, the military equipment that belonged to it mainly passed to the Armenian separatists.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27, 2020. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front.
Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia.
A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were introduced on Nov. 10, 2020.