BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 26. The prolonged absence of prosecution for war criminals in Armenia has fostered an atmosphere of impunity among these individuals; consequently, the Azerbaijani state must persist in its consistent efforts in this direction, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told reporters during his visit to the Mother's Cry monument of the Khojaly genocide, Trend reports.
"We have all witnessed how recently some of the perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide have been brought to criminal responsibility," said the minister.
"On that day, 613 innocent lives were brutally taken, with many more missing or captured. Under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan has undertaken consistent and systematic efforts over the years to hold the war criminals responsible for the Khojaly genocide and restore historical justice. As a result, this year's commemoration of the tragedy occurs in a transformed atmosphere, marked by the full restoration of Azerbaijan's sovereignty and the proud display of our tricolor flag flying in Khojaly," Bayramov added.
To note, today marks the 32nd commemoration of the Khojaly massacre. On the night of February 25-26, 1992, Khojaly city was occupied by Armenia’s armed forces with the assistance of the former USSR’s 366th Motorized Rifle Regiment following massive artillery shelling.
As a result of the occupation, 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly citizens were brutally murdered, eight families were completely wiped out, 130 children lost one of their parents, and 25 children lost both of their parents. The fate of 150 people, including 68 women and 26 children out of 1275 people, who were taken prisoner and hostage as well as cruelly tortured is still unknown.
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