BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 23
Trend:
Armenia must apologize for Azerbaijan's Khojaly genocide for lasting peace in the region, Chairman of the Budapest Centre for Prevention of Mass Atrocities Gyorgy Tatar said at the OSCE Headquarters on Feb. 23, Trend reports.
Speaking in Vienna, the capital of Austria, at an international event on the theme "Peace and Justice" organized by the Azerbaijani Embassy in Austria, the Center for Analysis of International Relations and Communications, Giorgi Tatar, having provided extensive information about the Khojaly genocide committed in February 1992, called this crime one of the bloodiest tragedies of the end of the 20th century, adding that one of the main obstacles in establishing peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan is connected with it.
"The 44-day Second Karabakh war, putting an end to the Karabakh conflict, created the conditions for the normalization of interstate relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. As a result of the "Justice for Khojaly" campaign, this tragedy is widely recognized in the world as a genocide, and the lack of an adequate assessment of the Khojaly tragedy on the part of Armenia creates serious obstacles to the normalization process in the region. The responsibility for this tragedy lies with the former leadership of Armenia, and Yerevan's apology for this crime will help both Armenia itself deal with its past and establish sustainable peace in the region," he said.
Referring to the international experience of peacebuilding in the post-conflict period, the international center headed by Giorgi Tatar announced the launch of the Recognize for Reconciliation initiative with the aim of achieving justice for the victims of Khojaly and establishing peace in the region. The main goals of the initiative are not only to achieve, under the influence of the international community, the recognition of the genocide by Armenia, but also to promote dialogue between Azerbaijani and Armenian societies and provide appropriate conditions for the post-conflict period.
Stressing that in the near future it is planned to create a broad international coalition around the initiative dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy, Tatar noted that the coalition is open to human rights organizations and authoritative experts. Activities under the initiative will continue throughout this year.
Georgy Tatar for many years held various positions in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Hungary, the secretariat of the Council of Europe, since 2010 he has been the chairman of the Budapest Center for the Prevention of Genocides and Massacres.
