Remembering the Ballygaya massacre: Armenia's atrocities against Azerbaijani civilians 32 years on

Thirty-two years have passed since the monstrously brutal massacre committed by the Armenian armed forces against peaceful Azerbaijanis in the village of Ballygaya in the Goranboy district.

This tragedy, which has gone down in history as the Ballygaya massacre, took place in the early hours of 28 August 1992. As a result of the massacre, 24 Azerbaijani civilians were brutally murdered, among them 6 children, including a six-month-old baby, and a 93-year-old woman. The bodies of murdered children, women and old people were burnt. As a result of the massacre, three minors were left orphaned. The Ballygaya massacre is an act of terror in a series of bloody crimes, genocides committed by the Armenian armed forces in Garadaghli village of Khojavand district, Khojaly town, Agdaban village of Kalbajar district to exterminate the Azerbaijani population of Karabakh.

After the occupation of the Lachin district by Armenia in the summer of 1992, the local population, driven out of their homes, was forced to settle in different regions of Azerbaijan. Six families with kinship ties settled in the territory of Ballygaya, which is favourable for cattle breeding. Residents of Lachin district, who settled in tents in Ballygaya village in August, also came here with the sole purpose of continuing livestock farming. On 28 August, they were all brutally murdered. At about 5 a.m., a heavily armed detachment of Armenian armed forces saboteurs carried out a bloody massacre of peaceful Azerbaijanis. Twenty-four civilians were brutally killed, 9 people were seriously wounded. All the dead and wounded were engaged in livestock farming, raising cattle.

The massacres of peaceful Azerbaijanis in Ballygaya, Garadaghli, Khojaly and Agdaban clearly demonstrate that Armenians have been hatching hostile plans against our compatriots throughout history. These bloody acts will never be erased from the memory of Azerbaijanis. Retribution has caught up with the Armenian thugs. On September 27, 2020, the valiant Azerbaijani Army under the leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev defeated the Armenian army during the 44-day Patriotic War, debunking myths about its invincibility, getting even on the battlefield with criminals and occupants for the innocently killed brothers and sisters, children and infants.

Having failed to defeat the Azerbaijani army, the Armenian servicemen cowardly fled the battlefield, abandoning everything, including military equipment and their wounded soldiers. Determined to somehow get even more revenge for their loss, the Armenian armed forces resorted to an even more despicable act and began bombing Azerbaijani cities and districts far from the front line with ballistic missiles.

As a result of rocket attacks on Ganja and Barda, civilians, including women and children, were killed. In Mingachevir, Yevlakh, Naftalan, Goranboy, Tartar, Aghdam, Aghjabadi and other towns and districts, a large number of people, including children and women, were killed and infrastructure was severely damaged as a result of shelling and rocket attacks on civilians. This is the ideology of Armenian hostility towards Azerbaijanis. But the ideology of Armenians, the illusion of the indestructibility of the Armenian army, which they tried so hard to assure themselves of, was dealt a crushing blow, and the blow was so strong that it forced the enemy to kneel down forever. We defeated the insidious enemy thanks to the courage and unity of the Azerbaijani army and people closely united around the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Historical justice was restored. Our lands, which had been under occupation for many years, were liberated from enemy invaders.

The Armenian militants and their henchmen who had been committing massacres, massacres and genocide against Azerbaijanis for many years were destroyed on the battlefield. Despite the victory, the Azerbaijani people have never forgotten the massacres committed by the Armenians. President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev has also repeatedly emphasised in his speeches that none of the acts of terror against the Azerbaijani people will be forgotten and Armenia will be held accountable in legal terms for its criminal acts.