Exposing Armenian vandalism: Azerbaijan honors victims of Khojaly genocide victims in Qatar PHOTO

The Embassy of Azerbaijan in Qatar has commemorated the 33rd anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, carried out by Armenian militants amid the onset of the Karabakh war.

The memorial ceremony was attended by embassy staff as well as members of the Azerbaijani community residing in Qatar, Caliber.Az reports citing local media.

Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Qatar, Adish Mammadov, welcomed the guests following a moment of silence in honour of the victims. He reminded the audience that on the night of February 25-26, 1992, Armenia committed an unprecedented act of genocide against Azerbaijani civilians in the Azerbaijani village of Khojaly which resulted in the deaths of 613 people. He emphasized that the Khojaly genocide remains one of the bloodiest pages in history and will never be forgotten by the Azerbaijani people.

Mammadov also pointed to statements by former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, arguing that they further prove the massacre was a deliberate act of ethnic hatred against Azerbaijanis.

In 1997, then-Defense Minister and later President Serzh Sargsyan was talking about the Khojaly genocide and acknowledged, that “Until Khojaly, the Azerbaijanis thought we were joking. But we broke this stereotype in Khojaly.”

The Washington, DC-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace released in 2012 the full transcript of a 2000 interview conducted by their associate Thomas de Waal with Sargsyan in the original language, Russian. Asked about the slaughter at Khojaly, Sargsyan said "[W]hen a shell is flying through the air, it doesn't distinguish between a civilian resident and a soldier; it doesn't have eyes. If the civilian population stays there, even though there was a perfect opportunity to leave, that means that they also are taking part in military operations [...]" Sargsyan further conceded, that "some form of ethnic cleansing" took place in Karabakh, adding that "It's not possible otherwise."

Ambassador Mammadov recalled that Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s national leader, was the first to provide a political and legal assessment of the Khojaly genocide, initiating the declaration of February 26 as Khojaly Genocide Remembrance Day.

The ambassador also highlighted the "Justice for Khojaly!" campaign, led by Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which has gained international recognition. Thanks to this initiative, numerous parliaments and US states have adopted resolutions condemning the Khojaly genocide as a crime against Azerbaijani civilians.

Additionally, Mammadov noted that some Armenian perpetrators of war crimes in Karabakh are currently facing trial in Baku. He expressed confidence that the organizers of the Khojaly genocide, including Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, will also be held accountable.

He further stated that justice for Khojaly’s victims was achieved on the battlefield during the 44-day Patriotic War, under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev.

The event also featured remarks from Fuad Karimov, a professor at ADA University and executive director of Xsolla in Azerbaijan, who was participating in Web Summit 2025 in Qatar.

The ceremony concluded with a photo exhibition dedicated to the Khojaly genocide and a display of books in Arabic and English, documenting historical facts about the tragedy.

By Nazrin Sadigova