BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 31. Recently discovered archival documents and numerous proofs reveal that the mass killings of Azerbaijanis by Armenians in March 1918, extending beyond Baku to thousands of villages in Shamakhi, Guba, Lankaran, Mughan, and Karabakh, where villages were burned, resulted in tens of thousands of brutally murdered people, constituting a genocide, political analyst Azer Garayev told Trend.
He noted that the genocide committed by Armenians on March 31, 1918, against Azerbaijanis is a terrible crime against humanity, marking a tragic moment in history, as Dashnak-Bolshevik forces destroyed Azerbaijani villages, cultural sites, mosques, and cemeteries.
"By the decree signed on March 26, 1998, by the esteemed leader Heydar Aliyev, March 31 was designated as "The Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis," which spurred research on this matter and bolstered efforts in this direction," Garayev said.
He stressed that Armenians continually subjected the Azerbaijani people to genocide, with the "approval" of the Armenian church, as ethnic cleansing, deportations, and genocide of Azerbaijanis were executed with involvement from Armenian terrorist groups such as Dashnaktsutyun, ASALA, and others, all substantiated by archival documents.
The political expert added that more and more facts of crimes of Armenians against Azerbaijanis are being discovered.
"President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that we must always remember the occupation and Armenian atrocities, acknowledging Azerbaijan's victory on the battlefield as vengeance for our fallen heroes. However, while our historical triumph resulted in the full restoration of territorial integrity and sovereignty, it doesn't mean we should forget our tragedies, including the genocide perpetrated by Armenians" Garayev said.
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