BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 26. Exactly 31 years have passed since one of the bloodiest crimes against humanity, the Khojaly genocide, happened.
On the night of February 26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces, together with the 366th motorized rifle regiment of the army of the former USSR, brutally killed 613 residents of Khojaly. As a result, 63 children, 106 women, 70 elderly people were killed, 8 families were completely destroyed. Some 25 children lost both parents, while 130 children lost one of their parents. During these events, 1,275 people were taken hostage.
The Khojaly genocide is an integral part of the systemic and pre-planned terror policy of Armenians against Azerbaijanis. The Armenians started this policy of terror long before the Khojaly genocide - since 1987. First, they began to oppress Azerbaijanis with administrative methods in Khankendi and Yerevan. Later, they have further expanded their claims, and launched organizing armed attacks on the settlements of Azerbaijanis there. As a result, Western Azerbaijanis were deported from their native lands. Then the attacks of Armenians on unarmed Azerbaijanis became even more intense.
The Armenians committed a massacre in the village of Baganis Ayrim in the Gazakh region, bordering Armenia. Then, during the occupation of the Azerbaijani villages of Imaret-Garvend, Tugh, Salaketin, Akhullu, Khojavend, Jamilli, Nabiler, Meshali, Gasanabad, Kerkijahan, Gaibali, Malybeyli, Yukhara and Ashaghi Gushchular, Garadaghly in Karabakh, part of the civilian population of these settlements was brutally killed by Armenians. On February 17, 1992, several massacres were committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis in the village of Garadaghly of the Khojavand region, in April 1992 - in the village of Agdaban of the Kalbajar region, in August - in the village of Balligaya of the Goranboy region, in April 1993 - in the village of Bashlybel of the Kalbajar region. That is, the Armenians systematically committed crimes against the Azerbaijani people in the late 80s and early 90s.
The Armenian authorities provided special financial and military support to the armed formations that shed the Azerbaijani blood. Later, Armenian officials themselves recognized these crimes against Azerbaijanis.
The Armenian writer, Khojaly executioner Zori Balayan, in his book named "The Revival of Our Soul", published in 1996, justifies the Khojaly genocide and proudly admits the commitment of this genocide against Azerbaijanis: "When Khachatur and I entered one of the houses, our soldiers nailed a 13-year-old Turk to the window. Then I stripped the skin of a 13-year-old Turk on his stomach, head and chest. I looked at my watch, 7 minutes later the child died from pain and blood loss. My spirit was filled with joy. Then Khachatur dismembered the corpse of the murdered child and threw it to the dogs. In the evening we did the same with three more Turkic children. I have fulfilled my duty as a person who loves Armenians. I knew that every Armenian would be proud of our actions".
It is clear that the Armenians wanted to intimidate the Azerbaijani people with these crimes, with such confessions. But Azerbaijan thwarted this plan of the Armenians. They failed to frighten the people, and the crimes committed by the Armenians were not forgotten.
Retribution for Khojaly took place on the battlefield, during the 44-day war, which ended with the victory of the Azerbaijani army under the leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President Ilham Aliyev. Although the Armenians systematically killed Azerbaijani civilians during the first Karabakh war and continued their policy of terror during the 44-day war, Azerbaijan did not respond in the same way. Azerbaijani army avenged Khojaly on the battlefield, not hurting the civilian population.
Nevertheless, the Armenian authorities continued their policy of terror, bombarding civilians in Ganja, Barda, Mingachevir and our other cities during the 44-day war.
The terror policy of Armenia against the Azerbaijani people continues to this day, just in a different form.
Currently, Armenia is pursuing a policy of "mine terror" against Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that more than two years have passed since the crushing defeat of the Armenians on the battlefield, they still have not provided the Azerbaijani side with accurate maps of minefields. As a result, civilians in Khojavend, Terter, Fizuli, Aghdam and other regions regularly become victims of mine terror. According to the latest statistics, after the second Karabakh war ended, 260 people became the victims of the mine blow, 44 of them died, and more than 200 people received injuries.
That is, the terrorist policy of Armenia towards Azerbaijan continues to these days. The Armenians, who penetrated the houses of the unarmed Azerbaijani population in Khankendi and Western Azerbaijan in the late 1980s and committed terror there, began to pursue an occupation policy in the early 1990s. Later, they continued the policy of terror, firing at the civilian population living on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and in the frontline zone. And now they continue their terrorist policy in the form of "mine terror", which is the main threat to the peace in the region.