Baku, August 1, AZERTAC

Victims of the Meshali genocide have addressed the international community with an open letter. AZERTAC presents the letter.

We, residents of the village of Meshali of Khojaly, which was subjected to an act of genocide by Armenian armed forces in December 1991, know very well the war criminal Vagif Khachaturyan, who was recently detained on the Lachin road. He has the blood of peaceful people - babies, women and old people, on his hands.

For 32 years, no international organization ever took interest in the genocide perpetrated against us in Meshali. No human rights organization raised a voice of protest against Armenia because of it. We have been treated as if nothing happened. They turned a blind eye to the tragedy of such proportions. We are well aware that they simply did not want to see or hear anything about that.

But as soon as war criminal Vagif Khachaturyan was captured, these organizations resurfaced and, one after another, started calling for his release. We, the people of Meshali, are extremely outraged with this. We take it as an insult and humiliation of us. Such calls are unacceptable!

The wounds inflicted on us in Meshali have not yet healed. We have been suffering from those war crimes for years. We were displaced from our native lands.

Today, hundreds of families from Meshali village live compactly in the Meshali settlement of Goranboy district. Today, it is the demand of every resident of Meshali that Vagif Khachaturyan and other war criminals like him should be brought to account before us - in Azerbaijani courts.

We have been waiting for this moment of justice for decades. This is the only consolation for us after for the suffering we have gone through, for the relatives and loved ones we have lost. We have been longing for for this day for years. We have not lost our faith and hope for a single day.

We embrace our border guards who have professionally found and detained war criminal Vagif Khachaturyan. We embrace all our children who serve in the law enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan. We applaud them and we say to them, “Well done!”

For 32 years, our calls fell on deaf ears. None of these war criminals have been handed over to Azerbaijan.

Those attempting to justify them and have them freed should rest assured that all this is to no avail. Khachaturyan's fate awaits all war criminals who are still at large.

In 1991, they thought that they would get away with their heinous actions. They thought we had no-one to take charge of us. Today, Azerbaijan is a strong state, a victorious state. It has a victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief! We are united as a fist around the Victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief!

All the war criminals hiding in Karabakh, the executioners who committed the Khojaly genocide should know that nothing will be the same again. They will be held accountable!

Those calling for the release of Vagif Khachaturyan should be embarrassed in front of the residents of Meshali and Khojaly, in front of the people of Azerbaijan. We ask them, “When will you defend our rights and rights?” Such actions are not compatible with human and moral values.

If there had been a timely international response to what happened in connection with the Meshali genocide, if necessary measures had been taken, similar situations would not have been repeated in Garadaghli, the city of Khojaly, Aghdaban, Balligaya, Bashlibel and a number of other Azerbaijani settlements. Silence in the face of these crimes encouraged the Armenian authorities to expand the occupation and commit new massacres.

We regret to say that in exchange for the goodwill shown by Azerbaijan, the Armenians abuse the medical evacuation on the part of the International Committee of the Red Cross and are trying to take advantage of it for both smuggling and facilitating the escape of criminals like Khachaturyan.

The vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross should not act as safe haven for criminals. International humanitarian law is also against it.

Armenian fascists who committed crimes against humanity should be punished in the same way as fascists and Nazis were punished after World War II. There is no point in looking for anything extraordinary here.

The measures to bring Khachaturyan to account in accordance with law have nothing to do with the Armenian residents of Karabakh. We, residents of Meshali, are looking forward to the day when we will return to Khojaly, to our native homes. Unlike the likes of Khachaturyan, we have never had enmity with peaceful people.

We, residents of Meshali, who have experienced such a severe tragedy, are showing wisdom nonetheless. We want to live in peace from now on. We see no problem in living there alongside Armenians. But punishing war criminals in accordance with law is an important condition for ethnic reconciliation. Unfortunately, even after the 44-day war, Armenia has not taken any steps to punish these war criminals.

We demand that the international community compel Armenia to punish and hand over those who committed crimes against humanity, against the people of Azerbaijan. This is the only path to peace and coexistence!