POLITICS
Israel hosts “Justice for Khojaly” photo exhibition
Baku, January 15 (AZERTAC). Mobile documentary photo exhibition “Justice for Khojaly” has opened in the north of Israel, at the municipality of the ancient city of Acre where a large community of Israelis from Azerbaijan lives.
Opening the event, director of the Azerbaijan Cultural Centre under association "Aziz" Egana Salman said that the photographs depicting the tragic events in the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly in February, 1992 clearly narrate to the residents of Israel the horrors of that night, when the Armenian bands slaughtered hundreds of innocent civilians.
Visitors of the exhibition could hardly believe that the photos reflect the events of the recent past, since all these remind them the Holocaust.
"Association Aziz calls on the people of Israel and all the nations of the world to condemn the crimes of the Armenian occupation and prevent the recurrence of such acts, no matter where it is on earth," said Salman.
Addressing the event the Acre city Mayor Shimon Lancry expressed deep sorrow and indignation at those terrible events.
"The photo exhibition dedicated to the massacre in Khojaly has just shocked me. I am shocked," he said, expressing hope that the occupied Azerbaijani territories will soon be released and Azerbaijani refugees will be able to return to their homes.
Shimon Lancry spoke about the role of immigrants from Azerbaijan in the cultural and social life of the city, adding that in order to expand opportunities for community development, a building of the Cultural Centre of Mountain Jews will be constructed.
In turn, head of the Mountain Jews community of Acre, Shirin Nehemiah Michaeli, addressed the audience in Hebrew and in the Azerbaijani language, thanked the organizers of the exhibition, and also told that the Jews of Azerbaijan have retained the love and the best memories of their homeland, where they lived in peace and prosperity not one century.
He drew attention to the progressive peace policy pursued by Azerbaijan, headed by President Ilham Aliyev and wished peace to the people of Azerbaijan.
“Aziz” Board member, the expert in international relations, Arye Gut told about the tragic events in Khojaly in February, 1992 and the aggressive policy of Armenia against Azerbaijan.
"During the massacre, the Armenian fascists murdered 613 innocent Azerbaijanis, including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly. Of this, 487 people, including 76 children, were injured and 56 terrible were killed with special brutality. Civilians were shot at point blank range, scalped and burned alive. Some had their eyes put out, others were beheaded. We remember how it happened, and we have no right to forget about the bloody massacre of Khojaly, which was a manifestation of the brutality and vandalism," he said.
"Khojaly city was one of the stages of the policy of ethnic cleansing carried out by Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. There is no explanation for the barbaric cruelty against innocent children, women and the elderly. This terrible tragedy must never be forgotten. Azerbaijani civilians were dealt with cruelly just because they were Azerbaijanis," said Gut.