POLITICS
BRITISH MPs LAUNCH KHOJALY GENOCIDE INITIATIVE
Baku, March 25 (AZERTAC). A group of British MPs has launched an initiative calling the Parliament to recognize the Khojaly genocide which saw the killing by Armenians of hundreds of civilian Azerbaijanis in an Azeri town of Khojaly 18 years ago.
The draft version of the initiative, headed by parliamentarian Mike Hancock, has already been signed by over 30 members of the UK parliament.
Hancock and his supporters believe the recognition of the Khojaly genocide by the UK Parliament would “open up new opportunities for finding a peaceful and international legal norms-based solution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict”.
Meanwhile, the Europe Azerbaijan Society, TEAS, has posted a Khojaly genocide petition on the website of the UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.
The petition says: “On the 26th February Azerbaijan mourns one of the darkest days in its history. On this day in 1992 Armenian military forces brutally murdered civilian inhabitants of the town of Khojaly in the illegally occupied region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The day of Khojaly is not only a day to mourn the dead, but a reminder of the Armenian aggression that continues to this day. The world media condemned these atrocities, with the UK`s own Times newspaper remarking how `the refugees had been shot down as they ran.` Eighteen years after this fateful day we remember those who died that day in the face of an illegal occupation that still claims almost 20% of Azerbaijan`s sovereign territory.”
Lionel Zetter, TEAS Public Affairs Advisor, said world nations should “join Azerbaijanis in not forgetting the Khojaly massacre”.
Zetter said the petition emphasized the fact United Kingdom was the largest investor in Azerbaijan.
“Azerbaijan is really a very important country for United Kingdom,” said Zetter, expressing hope UK`s interests in Azerbaijan could help in solving “other problems”.