Genocide charges examined as Baku Court hears testimony on 1992 Aghdara massacre

On May 15, the Baku Military Court resumed proceedings in the trial of several Armenian nationals facing charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the First Karabakh War.

In a poignant testimony, victim Karim Novruzov recounted the harrowing events that unfolded in Bash Guneypaya village of Azerbaijan’s Aghdara district, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Novruzov described four assaults carried out by Armenian armed forces in the village between September and October 1991. These attacks, he said, resulted in the deaths of numerous civilians, including World War II veteran Goshun Abdullayev (born in 1910), Hamza Alakbarov, and several others.

The most devastating attack, according to Novruzov, occurred on March 12, 1992, when Armenian forces launched a large-scale offensive against five villages in Aghdara district, including Bash Guneypaya.

“They surrounded the entire village and opened fire with tanks and heavy artillery. They had significant military capabilities—automatic rifles, machine guns, and sniper rifles,” Novruzov testified. “My father died heroically that day, along with his comrades-in-arms, while protecting civilians from the assault.”

He went on to recount the personal losses he suffered during the attack: his brother, two uncles, other relatives, and a childhood friend were all killed. Despite efforts to retrieve the bodies through negotiations mediated by Armenian military figure Vitaly Balasanyan, Novruzov stated that the remains of his father and others were never returned. “It is still unknown where the remains of the victims are,” he said.

He also detailed a particularly horrific act in which Armenian forces allegedly executed an entire family of five, further underscoring the brutality of the attacks.

The trial currently underway in Baku involves Armenian citizens charged with a wide array of grave offenses, including genocide, war crimes, terrorism, financing of terrorism, the forcible seizure and retention of power, and violations of the laws and customs of war.

The court proceedings continue as survivors and families of victims seek justice for atrocities committed during the conflict.

By Vafa Guliyeva