BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7. During the ongoing proceedings at the Baku Military Court on July 7, victim Dargah Hagverdiyev, a resident of the Karkijahan settlement in Khankendi, testified that residents of Armenian origin in Khankendi had been exerting pressure on the Azerbaijani population based on ethnic discrimination since 1987, Trend reports.
According to the victim, former Armenian President Robert Kocharian was actively involved in this process.
Hagverdiyev stated that after February 1988, Armenians began openly expelling Azerbaijanis and, in September of that year, burned Azerbaijani homes. He noted that following Armenian demonstrations at Khankendi’s city square at the time, armed Armenian groups attacked the Karkijahan settlement and set fire to several houses.
The victim added that starting from 1991, the settlement was shelled with the involvement of Armenian servicemen from the 366th Motorized Rifle Regiment stationed in Khankendi, using the regiment’s weapons and equipment.
“They made threatening calls to us before the occupation, telling us we had to leave, that Karabakh must be annexed to Armenia, and that only Armenians should live here. During the attacks, they shouted that Azerbaijanis must get out because this was Armenian territory,” Hagverdiyev said.
He also recounted that during the occupation, the residents fled through difficult forest terrain and headed toward the city of Shusha. At the time, Karkijahan settlement had a population of 1,796. Before the occupation, the village was home to 350 private residential houses, a secondary school, and other infrastructure belonging to Azerbaijanis.
The court proceedings continue against Armenian nationals accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, aggression, terrorism, violations of the laws and customs of war, financing terrorism, the violent seizure and retention of power, and other serious offenses.