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EMBASSY: AZERBAIJAN TRIES TO ESCAPE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ARMENIAN MASSACRES
March 4, 2014 - 11:06 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijani diplomacy and propaganda continues
to mislead the international community and Azerbaijani people
by falsifying the essence and the history of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict and the facts about the Khojalu events in particular, the
Armenian embassy to the U.S. said in a statement.
By distorting the Khojalu events, Azerbaijani regime attempts to
escape the responsibility for the Armenian massacres in Sumgait
(February, 1988), Kirovabad (November, 1988), Baku (January, 1990),
Maragha (April 1992) and against its own population in Khojalu.
Azerbaijan strives to portray itself as a victim, thus trying to
prepare a moral ground both domestically and internationally to
unleash another war against Nagorno Karabakh, the embassy said.
"Azerbaijan continues to reject international appeals, including
by the European Court of Human Rights, to openly debate about the
events in Khojalu. In that regard one can only ask why all who have
expressed points of views differing from Azerbaijani official version
of the events have been either killed, like journalist Mustafaev,
or imprisoned like journalist Fatullayev, or politically persecuted
like Ayaz Mutalibov, the first president of Azerbaijan?" it added.
In reality Khojalu village was one of the Azerbaijani strongholds in
the heart of Nagorno Karabakh which for many months as Human Rights
Watch put it "pounded the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, Stepanakert,
and other Armenian towns and villages with shells and grenades. The
indiscriminate shelling and sniper shooting killed or maimed hundreds
of civilians, destroyed homes, hospitals and other facilities that
are not legitimate military targets, and generally terrorized the
civilian population".
Therefore, suppressing the Azerbaijani fire had become a matter of
survival for the people of Nagorno Karabakh, the embassy stressed.
As Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev stated "And even several
days prior to the attack, the Armenians had been continuously warning
the population about the planned operation through loudspeakers
and suggesting that the civilians abandon the town and escape from
the encirclement through a humanitarian corridor. According to the
Khojalu refugees' own words, they had used this corridor and, indeed,
the Armenian soldiers positioned behind the corridor had not opened
fire on them."
However, goes on Fatullayev "... part of the Khojalu inhabitants had
been fired upon by our own [Azerbaijani troops]...
Ayaz Mutalibov, then the president of Azerbaijan blamed his political
opponents for killings in Khojalu. He stated in an interview that
"...the corridor, by which people could escape, had nonetheless been
left by the Armenians. So, why did they have to open fire? Especially
in the area around Aghdam, where there was sufficient force at
that time to get help to the people. As the Khojalu inhabitants,
who narrowly escaped, say, it was all organized in order to have
grounds for my resignation. Some forces functioned for the effort to
discredit the president".
The fact that Khojalu inhabitants felt victim of fierce domestic
political strife for power in Azerbaijan was confirmed also by then
Chairman of Azerbaijan's Supreme Council Karayev and his successor
Mamedov, Azerbaijani Human Rights Activist Yunusov and others.
Heydar Aliyev, then a presidential hopeful in Azerbaijan stated that
"...the bloodshed will profit us. We should not interfere in the
course of events".
Fatullayev, the Chief Editor of the Azerbaijani newspaper "Realny
Azerbaijan" spent many years in prison for alleged defamation of
inhabitants of Khojalu. He appealed to the European court of Human
Rights, which ruled that the Azerbaijani government shall immediately
release Fatullayev. He was eventually released in 2011 and shortly
after confirmed to Radio Liberty that he has not changed his views
on Khojalu events and held "Azerbaijani fighters, not Armenians,
responsible for the 1992 killings" of Khojalu inhabitants.
The Azerbaijani aggressive rhetoric and distortion of history, backed
by the billions worth acquisition of offensive weaponry, bares serious
threat to the security and stability for the whole region and thus
should be adequately countered by the international community, the
embassy concluded.
March 4, 2014 - 11:06 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijani diplomacy and propaganda continues
to mislead the international community and Azerbaijani people
by falsifying the essence and the history of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict and the facts about the Khojalu events in particular, the
Armenian embassy to the U.S. said in a statement.
By distorting the Khojalu events, Azerbaijani regime attempts to
escape the responsibility for the Armenian massacres in Sumgait
(February, 1988), Kirovabad (November, 1988), Baku (January, 1990),
Maragha (April 1992) and against its own population in Khojalu.
Azerbaijan strives to portray itself as a victim, thus trying to
prepare a moral ground both domestically and internationally to
unleash another war against Nagorno Karabakh, the embassy said.
"Azerbaijan continues to reject international appeals, including
by the European Court of Human Rights, to openly debate about the
events in Khojalu. In that regard one can only ask why all who have
expressed points of views differing from Azerbaijani official version
of the events have been either killed, like journalist Mustafaev,
or imprisoned like journalist Fatullayev, or politically persecuted
like Ayaz Mutalibov, the first president of Azerbaijan?" it added.
In reality Khojalu village was one of the Azerbaijani strongholds in
the heart of Nagorno Karabakh which for many months as Human Rights
Watch put it "pounded the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, Stepanakert,
and other Armenian towns and villages with shells and grenades. The
indiscriminate shelling and sniper shooting killed or maimed hundreds
of civilians, destroyed homes, hospitals and other facilities that
are not legitimate military targets, and generally terrorized the
civilian population".
Therefore, suppressing the Azerbaijani fire had become a matter of
survival for the people of Nagorno Karabakh, the embassy stressed.
As Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev stated "And even several
days prior to the attack, the Armenians had been continuously warning
the population about the planned operation through loudspeakers
and suggesting that the civilians abandon the town and escape from
the encirclement through a humanitarian corridor. According to the
Khojalu refugees' own words, they had used this corridor and, indeed,
the Armenian soldiers positioned behind the corridor had not opened
fire on them."
However, goes on Fatullayev "... part of the Khojalu inhabitants had
been fired upon by our own [Azerbaijani troops]...
Ayaz Mutalibov, then the president of Azerbaijan blamed his political
opponents for killings in Khojalu. He stated in an interview that
"...the corridor, by which people could escape, had nonetheless been
left by the Armenians. So, why did they have to open fire? Especially
in the area around Aghdam, where there was sufficient force at
that time to get help to the people. As the Khojalu inhabitants,
who narrowly escaped, say, it was all organized in order to have
grounds for my resignation. Some forces functioned for the effort to
discredit the president".
The fact that Khojalu inhabitants felt victim of fierce domestic
political strife for power in Azerbaijan was confirmed also by then
Chairman of Azerbaijan's Supreme Council Karayev and his successor
Mamedov, Azerbaijani Human Rights Activist Yunusov and others.
Heydar Aliyev, then a presidential hopeful in Azerbaijan stated that
"...the bloodshed will profit us. We should not interfere in the
course of events".
Fatullayev, the Chief Editor of the Azerbaijani newspaper "Realny
Azerbaijan" spent many years in prison for alleged defamation of
inhabitants of Khojalu. He appealed to the European court of Human
Rights, which ruled that the Azerbaijani government shall immediately
release Fatullayev. He was eventually released in 2011 and shortly
after confirmed to Radio Liberty that he has not changed his views
on Khojalu events and held "Azerbaijani fighters, not Armenians,
responsible for the 1992 killings" of Khojalu inhabitants.
The Azerbaijani aggressive rhetoric and distortion of history, backed
by the billions worth acquisition of offensive weaponry, bares serious
threat to the security and stability for the whole region and thus
should be adequately countered by the international community, the
embassy concluded.