Azerbaijan's first couple lay wreath to remember Khojaly genocide victims

On February 26, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva paid their respects at the memorial dedicated to the victims of the Khojaly genocide in Khatai district, Baku, marking the 33rd anniversary of the horrific tragedy that remains one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century.

According to Caliber.Az, this was confirmed by an official statement on the head of state’s website.

During their visit, President Aliyev placed a wreath at the memorial to honour the victims, while First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva laid flowers, also commemorating the lives lost in the atrocity.

The massacre occurred on the night of February 25-26, 1992, when Armenian armed forces, backed by heavy military equipment and the 366th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the former Soviet Army from Khankendi, launched an attack on Khojaly. The assault began with intense artillery shelling, reducing the city to rubble and setting homes on fire. Amid the chaos, 2,500 civilians fled into the freezing night in an attempt to reach safety in Aghdam, but they were intercepted by Armenian forces. What followed was unimaginable brutality against unarmed civilians.

The scale of the tragedy was devastating, with the death toll reaching 613, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly individuals. Eight families were entirely wiped out, and 25 children lost both parents, while 130 others were left without one. Additionally, 487 people were wounded, including 76 children, and 1,275 were taken hostage. The fate of 150 people remains unknown to this day.

In 1994, Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis officially declared February 26 as Khojaly Genocide Remembrance Day, recognizing the atrocity and ensuring that the memory of the victims would never be forgotten.

By Tamilla Hasanova