Russia, Moscow / corr. Trend R.Agayev / Organized by the Coordination Council of Azerbaijani Youths (CCAY) and the Azerbaijani Club of International State Institute of International Relations of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, an evening of remembrance in memory of the Khojali Genocide; "15 Years without Khojali", took place in Moscow on 25 February.
The national anthem of Azerbaijan was played at the beginning of the event of mourning. Thereafter, a documentary presented by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation was viewed on the subject of the history of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and Khojali tragedy.
Later the President of the Azerbaijani Club, Leyla Aliyeva, told of the history of this tragedy. Leyla Aliyeva said that the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict had already lasted for 15 years, and as a result, 20% of Azerbaijani territory has been occupied by Armenia, there are more than one million refugees and internally displaced persons in the country, tens of historical and architectural monuments have been destroyed and razed to the ground.
"In any war, the most irreplaceable loss and biggest tragedy is human victims. On 26 February 1992 the Armenian aggressor wildly killed Azerbaijanis in Khojali city, entered into our history as one of the most tragic and hardest events. Khojali was a hard trial for the Azeri people. During the Khojali tragedy, more than 600 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people, were killed. Nearly 500 were seriously injured, more than a thousand people were taken prisoner. The homes of the peaceful inhabitants of Khojali were destroyed and burnt, as were hospitals and schools. It is quite fair to call this tragedy one of the hardest crimes against humanity. 15 years have passed, but Azerbaijan will not forget this terrible day. The witnesses of this terrible day are still alive and there are documents, photo and video evidence testifying to this crime. The goal of today's event that was held with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation is to provide true and objective information on this tragedy to the international community and to appeal to the international community the uniqueness of this tragedy. We are sure that the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict will be resolved fairly and the realities of Khojali will receive their legal assessment," said the President of the Azerbaijani Club, Leyla Aliyeva.
The Chairman of the CCAY and one of the organizers of the event, Siyavush Mammadov, highlighted the necessity to draw conclusions from the tragic history of Azerbaijan . He stressed that the genocide in Khojali testified the attitude of Armenians towards Azerbaijan over the last 200 years.
Analyzing the incidents in Khojali, the Director of the Human Rights Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan , Rovshan Mustafayev, based the aggressive actions of Armenians against other peoples, including neighbors, on concrete facts from history.
The Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia , Polad Bulbuloglu, made a speech at the end of the official part of the event. He expressed gratitude to the organizers of the event and said that Leyla Aliyeva's speech reflected the opinion of modern Azerbaijani youth. "This terrible day has been living in the hearts of each Azeri person for 15 years, but year-by-year the strengthening of political and economical force of Azerbaijan make us certain that we will release our lands and restore historical justice," he said. Referring to the ideas voiced by L.Aliyeva and S.Mammadov, the Ambassador especially said "we will force the whole world to recognize the incidents that happened in Khojali as genocide and to return our historical lands so that the memory of the population whose dignity has been desecrated is not forgotten". A feature film "Faryad" ("cry for help") was played in the second part of the event.
The CCAY and Azerbaijani Club have published a large number of books; "Genocide of the Azerbaijanis in Khojali", "I'll kill the war", issued sleeveless sports shirts and baseball shirts with writings "STOP Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan" and issued a large number of films "Armenian Fascism", the author and activist of CCAY and President of International Foundation "Karabakh", Roman Agayev.