Khojaly Genocide - Massacre that Europe Ignored

The Khojaly Massacre remains one of the most heinous crimes of the last 20 years. Enacted by the Armenian militia against the innocent Azerbaijani inhabitants of Khojaly, the largest town in Nagorno-Karabakh, the final death toll included 106 women, 83 children and 70 elderly people. This atrocity received limited western media coverage at the time.

A grave injustice was overlooked, and 38 acknowledged Armenian war criminals remain at large to this day. Khojaly, together with other areas of Nagorno-Karabakh, and seven additional occupied regions remain under illegal Armenian control, in direct contravention of four UN Security Council Resolutions. There are currently nearly one million internally-displaced people (IDPs) and refugees residing in camps across Azerbaijan, amounting to a humanitarian disaster.

To date, nothing has been done to avenge these barbarous acts. But Azerbaijanis will always remember these events, and that is why the Berlin-based Society for the Promotion of German-Azerbaijani relations (GED) is commemorating the Khojaly Massacre with a positive act by making a petition to the German Bundestag entitled Massacre of the Azerbaijani population in Khojaly and the fate of more than 1 million refugees in the Armenian-Azerbaijani War of 1992–93.

The petition has been submitted by Eduard Lintner Managing Director, Parliamentary State Secretary A.D., Former Member of the German Bundestag and Vice-Chairman of the German Delegation to PACE.

The petition requests that: “The German Bundestag expects the ongoing conflict over Nagorno- Karabakh to be resolved within the framework of applicable international law. This requires that Armenia, as a first step, ends the occupation of seven regions formerly inhabited by Azerbaijanis, and allows refugees to return to their ancestral homeland. Moreover, a possible route should be agreed to enable the indigenous population of Nagorno-Karabakh to decide on its future status.”

The petition justifies its stance by stating: “The German Bundestag 22.04.2009 in its resolution Security, stability and democracy in South Caucasia (16/12726), dated 22 April 2009, described its concern over the volatile situation in the South Caucasus region. It expressed a wish for the Federal Government to continue to engage firmly in ensuring that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is resolved and that relevant UN resolutions, decisions of PACE and OSCE are fulfilled by all parties.

“This call also demands recognition that unresolved regional conflicts (frozen conflicts) may be used at any time to increase tensions and, in extreme cases could lead to violent confrontations. This was proven by the war between Russia and Georgia.”

“Diplomatic efforts since the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, include meetings of senior politicians, together with those undertaken in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. There have also been a series of meetings between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. None of these meetings have resulted in the anticipated progress. In fact, the efforts in the solution of the conflict are indeed weakening.”

“There is thus an acute threat of war for the region, which should not be taken lightly, neither by Germany nor by the EU.”

“An initial step towards conflict resolution must be to unequivocally insist on the validity of international law, solving the refugee problem by allowing the displaced to return to their homeland in accordance with human rights. The documented information requiring recognition, includes the fact that Armenian troops on 25 February 1992 encircled the Azerbaijani city of Khojaly and massacred the civilian population, comprising 613 people, including 106 women and 83 children. These incidents must be viewed on the basis of the existing criteria and be recognised as ‘genocide’. There is considerable evidence of the massacre in Khojaly in February 1992, in the form of documents, images and reports. The renowned international human rights organisation Human Rights Watch described the tragedy as: ‘the largest massacre in the conflict."

“On 8 May 1992, the armed forces of Armenia occupied the city Shusha – the centre of the Azerbaijani community in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. In the city, Armenian troops pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing, causing 50,000  azerbaijanis to flee their hometown. In the 18 years since the occupation of Shusha, the inhabitants are amongst more than 1m IDPs residing under difficult conditions in Azerbaijan.

“Armenia, which continues to accuse Turkey of genocide, should have an understanding of Azerbaijani concerns. Recognition of the historically documented events is important and indispensable, as sustainable reconciliation can only be achieved on the basis of historical truth. “Peace and reconciliation is the only foundation for the peoples of the South Caucasus to build and develop a prosperous future, given their pivotal geographical position, natural resources and ancient culture. “With reference to these connections, and remembering the will of the German Bundestag to contribute towards conflict resolution in earlier resolutions, it is hoped that the German parliament will move to the adoption of this petition, with the parties renewing efforts to solve the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh.”


The European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS)