On February 26, 1992, a mass massacre of the population of Khojaly took place. I have written below about the event that took place then. Also thanks to Mr. M Mehdiyev for his help.
Justice for Khojaly.
A new February has dawned with bloody memories of Khojaly, the city that witnessed the most violent Armenian vandalism against Azerbaijanis ever.
That night was written in our history with blood and tears not only of Khojaly people, but also entire people of Azerbaijan. No matter how much we know about the painful night of Khojaly, it is still impossible to imagine the horrors that took place!
On February 26, Azerbaijanis all over the world will pay tribute to the memories of the massacred people in Khojaly many years ago. The genocide in this occupied city of Azerbaijan is one of the most terrible massacres against innocent people in the history of mankind. This crime was the next stage of the Armenian aggressive genocide policy against Azerbaijanis. This event in Khojaly is not the first example of Armenian anti-Azerbaijan vandalism, as the massacre of Azerbaijanis in Baku, Quba, Shamakhi, and other cities in 1918 proved the Armenian barbarism based on ethnic hatred.
The tragedy in Khojaly was part of Armenia’s policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Azerbaijani people for over 200 years. Defying all norms of international law, the Armenian government decided to annex the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan to its territory and spared no effort in committing all kinds of crimes and barbarism to realize its baseless ideology.
Armenia’s bloodlust stretched all boundaries when its troops launched a furious attack on the city of Khojaly late on the night of February 25-26, killing 613 Azerbaijani civilians with unforeseen brutality.
In addition to claiming 613 innocent lives, Armenian barbarism also eliminated some 1,000 people, completely wiping out eight families. About 25 children lost one of their parents and 130 others were completely deprived of their parents in the aftermath of ethnic cleansing by Armenian forces in Khojaly.
It was a genocide against pure little hearts filled with beautiful and happy dreams that hung in the air of the city before the bloody invasion of the Armenians.
The violent Armenian soldiers took 1,275 innocent people as hostages, 150 of whom are still missing. Armenian vandalism resorted to the most inhuman ways to realize the genocide of Azerbaijanis in Khojaly. They shot civilians at close range, scalped and beheaded them, burned them alive, and gouged out their eyes. Even pregnant women became victims of Armenian massacres when their babies were inhumanly taken out of their wombs and nailed to the walls.
Fleeing from Armenian torture and vandalism, many residents of Khojaly fled to the forests. After they were weakened in the snowy passages and forests, they were brutally murdered by the Armenian forces.
Some children survived the cold winter, carrying with them their terrible memories and horrors. Those children, who lost their childhood and their flawless dreams for the future, now suffer from the memory of the awful night when they were subjected to the worst events ever, many years ago.
They can't remember that bloody night with a calm heart and a steady pulse. Suffering, pain, and torture beat on their hearts when they imagined the Armenian vandalism in Khojaly.
No one can describe the horrors of that night better than the eyewitnesses of that horrific massacre.
Turkan Turan was only 12 years old when the white winter was covered with the red color of the bloody massacre. She lost her happy memories in just a few hours when an Armenian vandal raped her.
"It is now many years later that I cannot escape that nightmare of Khojaly and the smell of blood. My memories haunt me when I stand in front of the mirror.
I experienced the most cruel winter ever in Khojaly in 1992. Armenian soldiers entered our house. They forced us out and took us to a place where the deafening screams of dozens of women and children could be heard. The soldiers raped the women and girls and brutally beat all the men. About 20 men were killed in just a few minutes.
"We will exterminate you Azerbaijanis, you are doomed to death" were the most heard words. We were held in a dark room. One of the soldiers suddenly came to me and took me away from my mother's arms. He dragged me to a room where I met an elderly Armenian soldier. He first beat me and then raped me. I felt unbearable pain when he put out a cigarette on my body. It was so painful that I started dreaming of death,” she recalls, her eyes filled with sadness.
Taleh, a six-year-old genocide survivor, feels his heartbeat slow as he recalls the events he experienced in Khojaly.
“On that bloody night, my father had just returned from work. He said that the situation in the city was getting worse. My mother was setting the table for dinner, as we did every night. Suddenly, fire opened from all sides and Khojaly was constantly being shelled. There was blood everywhere. I, my younger sister, my mother, my aunt, and other family members tried to hide, but we couldn’t because the Armenians stopped us all. The city was full of corpses. Bodies of babies were hanging over the fences," he recalled that tragic night with sad eyes.
Mehdi Aliyev, the then four-year-old witness to the genocide, said he lost his father Firdovsi, mother Heyran, brothers Elchin, Eldaniz, and other family members during the genocide in Khojaly. I am the only member of our family who survived that tragic night. Now I am alone, he said.
Modern Azerbaijan is well aware of the genocide of its people by Armenians many years ago. The Azerbaijani government has taken several measures to raise public awareness of the reality of the Khojaly genocide worldwide.
Many countries around the world recognized that an incredible and tragic genocide had taken place in Khojaly. And the government of the Netherlands? NOTHING AT ALL!!!!. The Dutch government should be ashamed of itself for allowing these genocides that were committed by Armenia, the Artsakh separatists, and the 366th regiment of the Russian army, among others. Yes, there is a memorial in The Hague. But the Dutch government has not contributed anything to it. A private initiative of the Azerbaijani and Turkish people living in the Netherlands has taken the trouble to place this memorial there and to come together every year around February 26 to commemorate the genocides that were repeatedly committed against the Azerbaijanis and especially against the inhabitants of Khojaly.
The tragedy of Khojaly will remain in the history of Azerbaijan as an example of the terrible cruelty of Armenia with its unimaginable cruelty and inhumane massacre methods.
Many years have passed since the tragedy of Khojaly, but the pain of Khojaly will never be forgotten, just like the tears and blood of the inhabitants of Khojaly.
Time could not erase this memory from the hearts and minds of Azerbaijanis, millions of people in and from Azerbaijan annually pay tribute to the memories of the victims of the genocide on February 26.
The bloody page from the history of Azerbaijan will also be caused to future generations.
I sincerely hope that peace will be established between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the coming years.
Henry Van Rens
Writer (Netherlands)
