779 tortured, 32 killed: Azerbaijani MFA honors victims of Aghdaban tragedy

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan has issued a public statement commemorating the 33rd anniversary of the Aghdaban massacre, calling it one of the horrific crimes committed by Armenia against the Azerbaijani people.

“It has been 33 years since the Aghdaban massacre — one of the horrific crimes committed by Armenia against Azerbaijanis. In 1992, the village of Aghdaban, consisting of 130 homes, was completely destroyed by Armenian armed formations. A total of 779 residents were subjected to torture, and 32 people were brutally killed. We honor the bright memory of the victims of the Agdaban tragedy with deep sorrow. May Allah rest their souls in peace!” the ministry shared in a statement on social media.

The massacre took place on the night of April 7 to 8, 1992, in the village of Aghdaban in Azerbaijan’s Kalbajar district. 

In addition to the killing of 32 people, including eight elderly individuals aged between 90 and 100, two young children, and seven women who were burned alive, the massacre also caused irreversible cultural loss. Armenian forces destroyed the manuscript of Azerbaijani poet Qurban Aghdabanli and the literary legacy of Dede Shamshir, one of the iconic figures in classical ashug poetry — a form of traditional Azerbaijani oral literature.

The first political and legal assessment of the Aghdaban events was made by Azerbaijan’s national leader Heydar Aliyev. He described the massacre as “a grave crime against humanity” and stated that it “is a disgrace to all of mankind.”

By Tamilla Hasanova