INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

The Khojaly genocide was a grave crime against the civil population of Azerbaijan that committed by Armenia aggressors during the First Karabakh War.

During the occupation, Khojaly was a district located in the former Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The strategic importance of Khojaly was related with its location at the crossroads of the main highways of the region, as well as having the only airport in the Nagorno-Karabakh. In the second half of February 1992, Khojaly was under total siege by Armenian military units and any attempts by local civilians to break the siege were prevented.

On the night of February 25 to 26, 1992, in violation of all international legal norms, Armenian armed forces attacked the civilian population of the besieged town of Khojaly with heavy military equipment, killing with unprecedented brutality and razing the town to the ground.

As a result of this punitive crime 613 civilians, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 elders were brutally murdered on grounds of national identity. Khojaly villagers were beheaded, had their eyes gouged out, were skinned, and burned alive. Those trying to flee were killed with a particular brutality by Armenian troops who ambushed them on roads and in forests.

The Khojaly genocide was organized by the political and state leadership of the Republic of Armenia and was carried out by Armenian armed forces, Armenian terrorist groups in Nagorno-Karabakh and the former USSR army deployed in Khankendi.

Unlike the Nazis who tried to hide their crimes, the perpetuators of the Khojaly genocide justified and boasted of their barbarous criminal acts against civilian Azerbaijanis.

The words of former president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan’s, who was directly involved in the massacre, say it all. “Before Khojaly, the Azerbaijanis thought that the Armenians were people who could not raise their hand against the civilian population. We were able to break that stereotype.”

Back in those days, various international media outlets were publishing articles on horrific scenes witnessed in Khojaly.

In this regard, the Times newspaper wrote on March 4, 1992: … “Many people were mutilated, and it was remained only the head of one little girl”.

Since 1994, the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan has declared February 26 as the Day of the Khojaly Genocide. Every year at 5 pm on February 26, the people of Azerbaijan honor the memory of the Khojaly victims in a minute of silence.

The nature and gravity of the crimes committed in the town of Khojaly fully meets the definition of the word genocide as indicated in the Convention “On Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide” adopted on December 9, 1948 under Resolution 260 (III) of the UN General Assembly. The premeditated massacre on this territory was committed with intent to annihilate residents solely on grounds that they were Azerbaijanis.

Khojaly does not differ from other horrifying tragedies of Katyn, Lidice, Oradour-sur-Glane, the Holocaust, Songmy, Rwanda and Srebrenica, which remain in history as deep and shameful scars.

Meanwhile, “Justice for Khojaly”, an International Awareness Campaign on the genocide, is being carried out in many countries and cities and plays an important role in the recognition of the Khojaly tragedy as an act of genocide.

In addition to several international organizations, the Parliaments of various countries, such as, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Pakistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Sudan, Jordan, Honduras, Guatemala, Scotland, Panama, Slovenia, Djibouti, Paraguay and Indonesia already recognized the massacre in Khojaly according to international legal norms.

Moreover, legislative bodies of 24 States of the USA, including Massachusetts, Texas, New-Jersey, Maine, New Mexico, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, Mississippi, Minnesota, West Virginia, Indiana, Utah, Nebraska, Hawaii, Montana, Arizona, Idaho, State of Wisconsin Milwaukee County and Nevada have adopted relevant resolutions.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
The House of People of the Parliamentary Assembly
Resolution of 26/02/2013
Document
CZECH REPUBLIC
The House of People of the Parliamentary Assembly
Resolution of 26/02/2013
Document
HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN
The Senate of the National Assembly
Resolution of 19/06/2013
Document
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN
The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the National Assembly
Resolution of 01/02/2012 and 02/02/2017
Document
REPUBLIC OF DJIBOUTI
The National Assembly
Resolution of 11/01/2017
Document
REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA
The Second Constitutional Committee of the Senate of the Congress / Resolution of 28/03/2012
The Second Commission of the House of Representatives of the Congress / Decision of 30/07/2013
The Foreign Relations Commission of the Senate of the Congress / Record of 20/02/2017
Document
REPUBLIC OF GUATEMALA
The Congress
Resolution of 06/10/2015
Document
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS
The National Congress
Declaration of 24/01/2014
Document
REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
The First Commission of the House of Representatives
Statement of 22/02/2017
Document
REPUBLIC OF PANAMA
The National Assembly
Resolution of 07/08/2013
Document
REPUBLIC OF PARAGUAY
The Chamber of Deputies of the Congress
Declaration of 25/10/2017
Document
REPUBLIC OF PERU
The Congress
Decision of 10/06/2013
Document
REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA
The National Council
Decision of 20/01/2016
Document
REPUBLIC OF THE SUDAN
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly
Statement of 01/09/2014
Document
BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT SCOTLAND
Scottish Parliament
Motion of 07/02/2017
Document
UNITED MEXICAN STATES
The Foreign Relations Committee of the Chamber of Deputies of the General Congress
Resolution of 30/11/2011
Document

States of the USA and other cities in the world that adopted resolutions on Khojaly

State of Arizona
The Senate of the General Assembly
Resolution of 26/02/2015
The House of Representatives of the General Assembly
Proclamation of 26/02/2017
Document
State of Arkansas
The House of Representatives of the General Assembly
Resolution of 08/02/2013
Document
State of Connecticut
The House of Representatives of the General Assembly
In memoriam of 16/04/2013 and 25/02/2015
Document
State of Florida Broward County
The Office of the Mayor of the City of Hallandale (Broward County)
Proclamation of 02/03/2016
Document
State of Georgia
The House of Representatives of the General Assembly
Resolution of 24/02/2012
The Office of the Governor
Statement of 26/02/2015
Document
State of Hawaii
The Office of the Governor
Record of 15/02/2016
Document
State of Idaho
The Office of the Governor
Proclamation of 26/02/2016
Document
State of Indiana
The Senate of the General Assembly
Resolution of 26/02/2014
The Office of the Governor
Resolution of 26/02/2014
Document
State of Maine
The Senate and House of Representatives
Sentiment of 13/03/2013
Document
State of Massachusetts
The House of Representatives of the General Court
Record of 25/02/2010
Document
State of Minnesota
The House of Representatives
Resolution of 24/03/2016
Document
State of Mississippi
The House of Representatives
Resolution of 25/02/2013
Document
State of Montana
The Office of the Governor
Record of 17/02/2016
Document
State of Nebraska
The Office of the Governor
Proclamation of 03/02/2016
Document
State of Nevada
The Office of the Governor
Proclamation 15/02/2017
Document
State fo New Jersey
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 22, 2011
Document
State of New Mexico
The Senate
Memorial of 28/01/2013
The House of Representatives
Memorial of 31/01/2013
Document
State of Oklahoma
The Senate
Resolution of 04/03/2013
Document
State of Pennsylvania
The House of Representatives of the General Assembly
Resolutions of 18/03/2013 and 24/02/2015
Document
State of Tennessee
The House of Representatives of the General Assembly
Resolution of 18/03/2013
Document
State of Texas
The House of Representatives
Resolutions of 03/03/2011 and 07/03/2013
Document
State of Utah
The Office of the Governor
Record of 02/03/2015
Document
State of Wisconsin Milwaukee County
The Office of the Executive of Milwaukee County
Proclamation of 01/03/2016
Document
State of West Virginia
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 104
Document
Canada, Ottawa
Remembrance Of The Victims Of The Khojaly Tragedy Day
February 26, 2022
Document
 

Documents that adopted by Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Khojaly

 
OIC Council of Foreign Ministers
Djibouti Session
15-17 November 2012
Document
OIC Cairo Summit
Final Communique
6-7 February 2013
Document

Memorials of Khojaly Genocide

Memorials dedicated the victims of wars or genocides are physical objects that erected mainly by local communities or groups in order to commemorate the memories of those who suffered at the result of war crimes and genocides, which connect the past with today and future and enable people to remember and respect the sacrifice of those who lost their life or suffered in general. In this regard, various memorials were erected in Hague (Netherlands), Berlin (Germany), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Mexico City (Mexico), as well as in different cities of Turkey, such as Ankara, Denizli, Istanbul, Izmir, Izmit, Ushak, Kahramanmaras, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Sakarya in order to pay tribute to the victims of the Khojaly genocide that perpetrated by Armenians during the First Karabakh War, in the cold winter of 1992.

February 23, 2021
The Hague, Netherlands
Inaugurated February 24, 2008
February 23, 2021
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Inaugurated February 24, 2012
February 23, 2021
Mexico city, Mexico
Inaugurated August 23, 2012
February 23, 2021
Berlin, Germany
Inaugurated May 30, 2011
February 23, 2021
Usak, Turkey
Inaugurated February 20, 2014
February 23, 2021
Izmit, Turkey
Inaugurated April 22, 2015
February 23, 2021
Izmir, Turkey
Inaugurated February 26, 2016
February 23, 2021
Kocaeli, Turkey
Inaugurated November 23, 2017
February 23, 2021
Ankara, Turkey
Inaugurated March 27, 2014
February 23, 2021
Sakarya, Turkey
Inaugurated February 9, 2018
February 23, 2021
Istanbul, Turkey
Inaugurated February 25, 2018
February 23, 2021
Denizli, Turkey
Inaugurated November 4, 2016
February 23, 2021
Israel
Inaugurated February 26, 2016
February 23, 2021
Kahramanmarash, Turkey
Inaugurated February 12, 2019
February 23, 2021
Kayseri, Turkey
Inaugurated on October 20, 2018