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REMEMBERING THE MARAGHA MASSACRES
asbarez
Tuesday, April 10th, 2012
The charred remains of an Armenian resident of Maragha village
On April 10, 1992, after a three-hour violent bombardment, the
subunits of the Azerbaijani army invaded the village of Maragha from
the Azerbaijani village of Mir-Bashir (now Tartar). As a result of this
aggression hundreds of people were killed-mostly women, children, and
elderly. Scores of people were taken hostages and later were exchanged,
but the fate of many of them still remains unknown. Two weeks later,
on April 22-23, the village was repeatedly attacked and the people
who had come back to their burnt homes were forced to abandon the
village once and for all.
The events in the village of Maragha became the precursor to more
bloodshed at the hands of the Azeri Armed Forces, who later attacked
Getashen, Martounashen, Buzlukh, Erkej and the other Armenian villages
in the northern part of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
"In the history of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, fraught
with numerous acts of atrocity and vandalism by Azerbaijan, the
events in the village of Maragha in the Martakert district of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, are one of the most extreme manifestations
of sadism and barbarity ever known to humanity," said a statement
issued Monday by the Foreign Ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Reopublic.
One of the first eyewitnesses on the scene was long-time human rights
advocate and a Vice Speaker of the British House of Lords, Baroness
Cox, who visited the village a day later.
"It was like Golgotha..." she said after witnessing the atrocities
committed by the Azeri armed forces.
"They are not of the human race," said the Baroness about the
Azerbaijani servicemen who had carried out the slaughter. Baroness
Cox took pictures and videotaped the atrocities committed by the
Azerbaijanis in the village of Maragha and also described them in
her book "Ethnic Cleansing in Progress," as well as in her numerous
interviews.
"It is impossible to describe what we saw there. The village was
completely destroyed. The people were burying the dead, rather to say
anything that was possible to bury, charred human remains, tortured,
cut or sawed parts of bodies. We saw the bloody swords by which
they had done all these brutalities. After killing the villagers
the Azeris robbed and burnt the village. By the way, they told us
that the servicemen were followed by the civilians with trunks who
were going to finish the robbery, - and we saw some of those trunks
scattered all over the land, which the looters did not manage to take
away with them," Baroness Cox said in describing the atrocities.
"In 1997, a number of human rights organizations conjointly prepared
a comprehensive reference on the events in Maragha and submitted it
to the UN Commission on Human Rights. The Helsinki Watch International
Human Rights Organization officially confirmed that scores of civilians
were killed and tens of women and children were taken hostage. However,
the international media did not cover the massacre of the Armenians
in Maragha at all and the international community has not given yet
a corresponding assessment to these tragic events," said the Karabakh
Foreign Ministry statement.
"You have the most powerful weapon - the truth," said Baroness Cox.
"You should bring it to the international structures' attention that
Azerbaijan attempted to commit genocide against the population of
Karabakh. You must more actively present to the world the mass crimes
perpetrated against Armenians in Maragha, Sumgait, Baku, etc. These
are crimes against humanity. I support the Armenians and comprehend
that they will never be able to live under the Azerbaijani dominion, as
the Armenians of Karabakh, who lived under the control of Azerbaijan,
suffered much."
"The massacre in the village of Maragha, which is still under
Azerbaijan's occupation, cannot be called a military operation,
as there were no military bases in the village but only peaceful
citizens, who became the main target of the aggression. The crimes
were aimed at deporting the Armenian people from their homeland,"
the Ministry said, adding that "the slaughter of unarmed civil
population of Maragha is a crime against humanity and civilization,
without period of limitation, and the perpetrators of this crime must
carry punishment to the fullest extent of the law."
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic parliamentary blocs of Fatherland,
Democracy parties and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, as well
as the "Artsakhatun" group issued a joint statement Tuesday to mark
the 20th anniversary of the brutal massacres in Maragha.
"The operation was aimed at slaughtering and deporting the peaceful
population of Maragha. As a result of the aggression hundreds of
people were killed, deported or taken hostage," said the parliamentary
statement.
"Those responsible for the brutal crime committed in Maragha remain
unpunished, and the village remains occupied. More than 1,000 former
residents of Maragha now reside in different countries of the world,"
explained the statement.
"Strongly condemning the crime committed in Maragha, the caucuses
represented in the National Assembly categorize this as genocide and
declare that they will ensure that the perpetrators and organizers
of this crime against humanity are punished," added the announcement.
The parliamentary blocs "will defend the rights of the Artsakh
Armenians, including the restoration of the territorial integrity
of the Republic of Artsakh, and will contribute to the continuous
strengthening of the republic, viewing it as the most reliable
guarantee of people's security," concluded the statement.
Watch videos of the afternath of the Maragha Massacres. WARNING: The
videos contain scenes of grapghic nature, which may not be suitable
for all viewers.
http://www.maragha.org/video.html
From: Baghdasarian
asbarez
Tuesday, April 10th, 2012
The charred remains of an Armenian resident of Maragha village
On April 10, 1992, after a three-hour violent bombardment, the
subunits of the Azerbaijani army invaded the village of Maragha from
the Azerbaijani village of Mir-Bashir (now Tartar). As a result of this
aggression hundreds of people were killed-mostly women, children, and
elderly. Scores of people were taken hostages and later were exchanged,
but the fate of many of them still remains unknown. Two weeks later,
on April 22-23, the village was repeatedly attacked and the people
who had come back to their burnt homes were forced to abandon the
village once and for all.
The events in the village of Maragha became the precursor to more
bloodshed at the hands of the Azeri Armed Forces, who later attacked
Getashen, Martounashen, Buzlukh, Erkej and the other Armenian villages
in the northern part of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
"In the history of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, fraught
with numerous acts of atrocity and vandalism by Azerbaijan, the
events in the village of Maragha in the Martakert district of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, are one of the most extreme manifestations
of sadism and barbarity ever known to humanity," said a statement
issued Monday by the Foreign Ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Reopublic.
One of the first eyewitnesses on the scene was long-time human rights
advocate and a Vice Speaker of the British House of Lords, Baroness
Cox, who visited the village a day later.
"It was like Golgotha..." she said after witnessing the atrocities
committed by the Azeri armed forces.
"They are not of the human race," said the Baroness about the
Azerbaijani servicemen who had carried out the slaughter. Baroness
Cox took pictures and videotaped the atrocities committed by the
Azerbaijanis in the village of Maragha and also described them in
her book "Ethnic Cleansing in Progress," as well as in her numerous
interviews.
"It is impossible to describe what we saw there. The village was
completely destroyed. The people were burying the dead, rather to say
anything that was possible to bury, charred human remains, tortured,
cut or sawed parts of bodies. We saw the bloody swords by which
they had done all these brutalities. After killing the villagers
the Azeris robbed and burnt the village. By the way, they told us
that the servicemen were followed by the civilians with trunks who
were going to finish the robbery, - and we saw some of those trunks
scattered all over the land, which the looters did not manage to take
away with them," Baroness Cox said in describing the atrocities.
"In 1997, a number of human rights organizations conjointly prepared
a comprehensive reference on the events in Maragha and submitted it
to the UN Commission on Human Rights. The Helsinki Watch International
Human Rights Organization officially confirmed that scores of civilians
were killed and tens of women and children were taken hostage. However,
the international media did not cover the massacre of the Armenians
in Maragha at all and the international community has not given yet
a corresponding assessment to these tragic events," said the Karabakh
Foreign Ministry statement.
"You have the most powerful weapon - the truth," said Baroness Cox.
"You should bring it to the international structures' attention that
Azerbaijan attempted to commit genocide against the population of
Karabakh. You must more actively present to the world the mass crimes
perpetrated against Armenians in Maragha, Sumgait, Baku, etc. These
are crimes against humanity. I support the Armenians and comprehend
that they will never be able to live under the Azerbaijani dominion, as
the Armenians of Karabakh, who lived under the control of Azerbaijan,
suffered much."
"The massacre in the village of Maragha, which is still under
Azerbaijan's occupation, cannot be called a military operation,
as there were no military bases in the village but only peaceful
citizens, who became the main target of the aggression. The crimes
were aimed at deporting the Armenian people from their homeland,"
the Ministry said, adding that "the slaughter of unarmed civil
population of Maragha is a crime against humanity and civilization,
without period of limitation, and the perpetrators of this crime must
carry punishment to the fullest extent of the law."
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic parliamentary blocs of Fatherland,
Democracy parties and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, as well
as the "Artsakhatun" group issued a joint statement Tuesday to mark
the 20th anniversary of the brutal massacres in Maragha.
"The operation was aimed at slaughtering and deporting the peaceful
population of Maragha. As a result of the aggression hundreds of
people were killed, deported or taken hostage," said the parliamentary
statement.
"Those responsible for the brutal crime committed in Maragha remain
unpunished, and the village remains occupied. More than 1,000 former
residents of Maragha now reside in different countries of the world,"
explained the statement.
"Strongly condemning the crime committed in Maragha, the caucuses
represented in the National Assembly categorize this as genocide and
declare that they will ensure that the perpetrators and organizers
of this crime against humanity are punished," added the announcement.
The parliamentary blocs "will defend the rights of the Artsakh
Armenians, including the restoration of the territorial integrity
of the Republic of Artsakh, and will contribute to the continuous
strengthening of the republic, viewing it as the most reliable
guarantee of people's security," concluded the statement.
Watch videos of the afternath of the Maragha Massacres. WARNING: The
videos contain scenes of grapghic nature, which may not be suitable
for all viewers.
http://www.maragha.org/video.html
From: Baghdasarian