32 years pass since Armenian terror killing Azerbaijani political elite

Azerbaijan has long been a victim of Armenian terrorism, which practically used all methods, including murders, arsons, hostage-taking, attacks and armed occupation, ecological terrorism, etc.

One such heinous act against Azerbaijan was committed in 1991 with the downing of the helicopter with Azerbaijan’s state officials on board.

November 20 marks the 30th anniversary of the downing of the Azerbaijani helicopter MI-8 by Armenian security forces near the Garakend village of Khojavand region on November 20.

Armenian armed forces knocked the civilian helicopter carrying high-ranking Azerbaijani, Russian and Kazakh officials, journalists and parliamentarians over the Garakend village of Khojavand region, killing all on board.

The terror act killed 22 people, including State Secretary Tofig Ismayilov, Deputy Prime Minister Zulfu Hajiyev, State Advisor, former Interior Minister Mahammad Asadov, Prosecutor General Ismat Gayibov, parliamentarians Vagif Jafarov and Vali Mammadov, Department Chief of the President’s Office Osman Mirzayev, First Deputy Minister of International Affairs of Kazakhstan S. Serikov, employee of Azerbaijan State TV and Radio Ali Mustafayev and others.

The operational and investigative measures on the incident revealed the Armenian security forces to be behind the bloody event.

This fatal accident that was committed in the early years of the Karabakh conflict hampered the possibility of regulating the problem.

Later, Armenia continued its terrorist activities against Azerbaijan committing more than 30 terror attacks on the ground and air transports, as well as the subway. All these obviously proved that Armenia's main goal was to hinder the peaceful settlement of the conflict and occupy the Azerbaijani lands.

The bloody war, which flared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbour, left displaced thousands of Azerbaijani civilians of Karabakh and the regions adjoining it, as well as the regions bordering Armenia and Karabakh.

Azerbaijanis who were displaced from their homes as a result of the brutal war were forced to live in refugee camps, tents and wagons in very difficult conditions. They are temporarily settled in more than 1,600 settlements across 62 cities and regions of Azerbaijan.

As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.

The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.