Turkish newspaper publishes article on Khojaly genocide
Baku, February 26 (AZERTAC). English-language daily of Turkey, Today`s Zaman has published an article entitled “Genocide the West doesn`t want to perceive: Khojaly Massacre” by employee of Azerbaijan Embassy to Turkey Elsevar Salmanov. The article says:
“On Feb. 26, 1992, on the verge of the 21st century, a massacre that must be categorized as a crime against humanity in terms of international law was staged by Armenians against Azerbaijan. And it was staged before the very eyes of the entire world, with the personal attendance of several top-level executives of the current Armenia within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) (then the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe [CSCE]) region. As a result of the carnage staged by armed Armenian bands on unarmed people, 613 people were murdered in cold blood, of which 63 were children, 106 were women and 70 were senior citizens. Twenty-five kids lost both parents and 130 children lost one of their parents. Again as a result of the said brutal military operation, 487 persons were wounded, of which 76 were children. A total of 1,275 persons were taken as prisoners.
Since 1994, government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and people of Azerbaijan have struggled for the recognition and condemnation by the entire global community of the inhumane activities committed by Armenia against Azerbaijan throughout history with chauvinistic, extremist ideological motives. Heydar Aliyev, the national leader of the Azerbaijani people, has signed many governmental decrees to this end. The Khojaly Massacre is one of the inhumane actions committed against Azerbaijanis in this modern age (in 1992). We, and all our friends, should continue walking on this path without yielding, as one of the most important principles of our lives.
It was known by everybody who regularly reads daily papers that the president of Armenia, Serzh Sarksyan, who personally participated in the Khojaly Massacre, told British investigative journalist Thomas de Waal during an interview that “before the Khojaly Massacre, Azerbaijanis were thinking we were joking. They were so sure that we will certainly not resort to violence towards civilians. Thanks to successful operations we staged, we managed to erase this thought of theirs.” Unfortunately, up until now no adequate opposition has been made and no penal sanctions applied to Armenia on the grounds of these inhumane activities. Nevertheless, Armenia, which is guilty in the eyes of international law, should have been punished long ago for the barbaric violations it committed. That`s because everything is crystal clear. It`s crystal clear who the offender is and who the offended are and both of them must be treated differently. That`s because the same treatment for the country who staged a massacre and the one who was its victim, results in the encouragement of the offending country.
What we sincerely wish for is the Khojaly Massacre and in general the illegal activities which the Republic of Azerbaijan was subjected to not to be viewed based on political grounds, but evaluated by international public opinion in a fair manner”.
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