Chisinau, February 16 (AZERTAC). Azerbaijani Embassy in Moldova has issued a statement on Khojaly tragedy. The document provides information about the bloodiest page in the history of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - the Khojaly genocide committed by the Armenian armed forces on February 26, 1992. 

The document says that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which began in February 1988 when Karabakh Armenians began demonstrating in their capital, Stepanakert (Khankendi), in favor of unification with the Armenian republic, was triggered by the open support of the ruling circles of the Armenian SSR and the tacit consent and inaction of the central authorities of the Soviet Union.

According to the Memorial Human Rights Center, Human Rights Watch and other international observers, the massacre was committed by the ethnic Armenian armed forces, reportedly with help of the Russian 366th Motor Rifle Regiment, apparently not acting on orders from the command. The death toll provided by Azerbaijani authorities is 613 civilians, including 106 women and 63 children. The event became the largest massacre in the course of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

According to international observers, soldiers and officers of 366th regiment took part in the attack on Khojaly. Memorial called for investigation of the facts of participation of CIS soldiers in the military operations in the region and transfer of military equipment to the sides of the conflict. Soon after the massacre, in early March 1992, the regiment was withdrawn from Nagorno-Karabakh. Paratroopers evacuated the personnel of the regiment by helicopter, but over 100 soldiers and officers remained in Stepanakert (Khankendi) and joined the Armenian forces, including the commander of the 2nd battalion major Seyran Ohanyan, who currently serves as a Minister of Defense of Armenia. 

Actions of the Armenians and their accomplices involved in the tragedy of Khojaly, was a gross violation of human rights and the cynical disregard of international legal acts such as the the Geneva Convention, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict and acts of the international law.

Annually, February 26 is marked as a Day of Khojaly genocide in Azerbaijan.

Khojaly residents became refugees and took temporary refuge in the cities and regions of Azerbaijan. Since 1992 they are waiting for fair solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which will put an end to the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan. They appeal to the peoples of the world, states and international organizations to protect the truth and justice, condemn facts of terrorism and ethnic cleansing committed in Khojaly.

"The perpetrators and organizers of the Khojaly massacre should be punished. There can not be a crime without punishment. The 20th century witnessed many bloody pages. Khojaly tragedy in their series is one of the worst. All who have committed this terrible crime one day will answer for all before the court of history. History remembers everything!" the document says.

The document was distributed among all branches of the Moldovan authorities, including the diplomatic corps accredited in Chisinau, NGOs and the media of this country.