Diaspora activists commemorate Khojaly genocide victims in Ukraine PHOTO

An event dedicated to the 32nd anniversary of the Khojaly genocide has been held at the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine at the initiative and through the support of the Azerbaijani embassy in Ukraine.

Ehsan (feast) has been also given. The embassy staff, diaspora activists, Azerbaijanis living in Ukraine, and religious figures attended the ceremony held in the biggest mosque in Kyiv, according to Azertac.

First, the martyrs’ memory was revered by a minute of silence. Then Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine, Mufti of Ukraine Sheikh Ahmed Tamim and other religious figures read verses from the Holy Quran and Surah Yasin, honouring the blessed memory of the victims of the Khojaly genocide.

First Secretary of the Azerbaijani embassy in Ukraine Farid Babayev delivered a speech about the Khojaly genocide.

He noted that this heinous crime has already been recognised by the international community and the process of recognising genocide in Khojaly continues.

The diplomat stressed that the brutal murder of innocent people must not be justified. This was a real genocide committed against the Azerbaijani people.

“Our national army, led by victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, avenged the victims on the battlefield. The work is underway in Khojaly to reconstruct and restore the city,” Babayev added.

Today, February 26, is the 32nd anniversary of the Khojaly genocide and the occupation of the town of Khojaly by Armenian armed formations with the participation of the 366th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the former USSR.

The Khojaly genocide is the gravest crime of genocide committed against peaceful Azerbaijani people in the course of Armenia’s aggressive war against Azerbaijan. On the night of February 25-26, 1992, in violation of all international legal norms, Armenian armed forces attacked the civilian population of the sieged town of Khojaly with heavy military equipment, killing them with unprecedented brutality and razing the town to the ground.

As a result of crime against not only the people of Azerbaijan but against humanity, 613 civilian Azerbaijanis, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 elders were brutally murdered on grounds of national identity. The Khojaly genocide is one of a series of acts of mass slaughter aiming to crush those who rose up for the defence of their lands from Armenian armed forces’ aggression, to break their will to fight and annihilate the Azerbaijani population of then-time Nagorno-Karabakh.