“Unfortunately, during my travels to and in Karabakh, I have not yet had the opportunity to visit Khojaly due to the restrictions in place, but I have been able to talk to the survivors of this genocide, view photos and hear their heartbreaking stories.”
This statement was made by Dutch education expert and writer Henri Van Rens in an interview with Ednews.
Ednews presents the interview with Henri Van Rens:
- To begin with, how did you find out about Azerbaijan?
It actually starts in the year 2008 when I visited my friends in Tehran. One day I was a guest at an exhibition of my friends when another guest joined us and we enjoyed tea and sweets together. This guest was Professor Fegan Aliyev from Baku in Azerbaijan. After we had talked for a while, the Professor invited me to come to Baku in 2009 to participate in a conference more related to my field. Namely Logistics management. I thought it was a good idea and asked him to send me an official invitation. You still needed that to apply for a visa. And so it happened that at the beginning of 2009 I received this invitation. Inquired at the Embassy of Azerbaijan for a visa and drove to The Hague to hand in my passport at the embassy. Everything went as it should and a week later I was allowed to pick up the passport that was provided with a visa.
- Did you get any information about Karabakh before coming to the country?
At that time I started looking through the media to make contact with people from Azerbaijan. I actually had absolutely no knowledge of the country and the people. And I wanted to know a little more about the country. Fortunately, I have made good contacts with some of the inhabitants of this country, who have become and remained very good friends over the years. They told me a lot and showed me various cities and regions of the country.
It was good to hear about all that had happened in recent years. I actually knew nothing at all about the problems that had taken place in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
- What did the Dutch know about Karabakh?
This region belonged to Azerbaijan and a real war had broken out with neighboring Armenia due to the various conflicts. In the Netherlands we had heard something about it, but it was far away and the news people saw on TV was minimal.
It was as it was called, "The far from my bed show". Because coverage of this area was very limited, people weren't that interested. In addition, the politics of many European but also other countries in the world played a more or less greater role in this war. Especially the negative comments that were against Azerbaijan were widely reported. Azerbaijan was seen as an aggressor in the conflicts with Armenia.
- Then the question remains, who is the real culprit here?
After all, I have seen and heard that it seems to me that Armenia was clearly trying to show the world that they were the victims and not Azerbaijan.
Due to the strong Armenian diaspora in, for example, France (600,000 Armenians), America (approximately 500,000 Armenians) but also other countries, Azerbaijan was quickly identified as the main culprit.
Then I have a nice saying for those who are ready to blame Azerbaijan; "He or she who is without sin may cast the first stone".
How peaceful it will be in this world then.
Believe me when I say there is no such thing as a 'clean' war.
And there is no way we can pronounce the word "FREEDOM" so easily.
Because someone has paid for our "FREEDOM".
In the years that followed after my first visit to Azerbaijan, my interest in this beautiful country continued to grow. I decided to want to know more about this country and its people and went back every year to visit the whole country, the regions, and the people.
As a result, my interest in exploring more of this Karabakh region has also grown. After seeing the devastation and dozens of deaths from nighttime missile attacks in Ganja, for example, my decision was made. This had to be made known through a book that I was going to write. The people in the Netherlands, for example, had to be informed about this.
So much hatred, aggression and provocation from Armenia against Azerbaijan was asking for against measures by Azerbaijan. The provocations from the Armenian side were intended to provoke Azerbaijan.
- How was your visit to Karabakh?
When I was given the opportunity to visit the Nagorno-Karabakh region for 4 days with the help of the Diaspora Committee in February and March 2022, I grabbed it with both hands. For example, I was able to listen to and write down stories of the many victims, relatives and soldiers of the terrible first Karabakh war.
I was able to take many pictures of the Karabakh region with the towns and villages located therein that were not only completely destroyed, but also completely looted in the intervening time from 1992 to 2020. It was a desolate region. Not a living creature to be seen.
The towns and villages of Aghdam, Fuzuli, Shusha, Edlilli were sad to behold. Everything related to important buildings such as: museums, mosque were destroyed and the objects related to local or rural art were shot to shreds, burned and /or stolen.
Very impressive was my first visit to a mass grave near the village of Edlilli. It was terrible to see what had happened there. Inhabitants of this and surrounding villages had been tortured, murdered and thrown on a rubbish dump and then sand dumped over it.
Occasionally I had to go for a walk to relax. It was terrible to hear the stories and to see for yourself what happened here during that time. Back in Baku I had meetings with IDPs. I had never heard of it. It was strange and incomprehensible to hear that these people were forced to flee from their own environment, leaving behind many personal belongings.
Internally displaced persons, also known as "IDPs" are "persons or groups of persons who are forced or compelled to flee and leave their homes or places of residence, but remain within country borders. They are often referred to as refugees. But they do not fall under the definition of legal refugee.
- How come a Dutchman ends up in Azerbaijan and writes a book about Karabakh?
In August 2022 I went back to Azerbaijan to deepen my knowledge and do extensive research for my book about Karabakh. Had many interviews and meetings with people who could tell me about the problems and origins of the wars between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
I also got to know Mr. Umud Mirzayev there. A very friendly and nice man who is President of the IEPF organization. More on this later in this book.
Made even more new friends (including historians) who supported me in my endeavor to make my story even better.
Of course traveled to Fuzuli, Edlilli and Shusha and other villages in Karabakh a few times.
With the Diaspora Committee, with Mr. Umud Mirzayev and other guests. Went to a new mass grave this time also near Edlilli. Which was even more horrifying to see and hear the stories than during my first visit in February 2022. Such gruesome murder and torture can only be carried out by persons who are mentally ill.
But everything comes to an end. It was time to go back to Baku. On the way to Baku I saw that great hard work is being done throughout Karabakh to have everything in order within a short time. If Karabakh is to be in order so that the Azerbaijans and tourists can return to this region, the roads, airports, electricity, hotels and other facilities must be in order.
Because countless explosives have been placed by the Armenian occupier, one must proceed very carefully. Unfortunately, the Armenians have “forgotten” the documents showing where these landmines and other explosives were left behind.
Fortunately, the ANAMA (Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action) is doing everything it can to solve this major problem quickly and to clear the entire area from mines.
- Would you like to tell us anything else about all of these?
Back in Baku I continued with research and conversations with people who could provide me with good information so that I could continue working on my new book. I want to thank everyone who helped me in word and deed. I am deeply indebted to Mr. Umud Mirzayev for inviting me to travel to Karabakh, but also to the entire staff of the IEPF organization who welcomed me into their midst and made available all resources to allow me to work on my book. My great appreciation to all employees of this organization.
- What does the Khojaly genocide tell you?
The Khojaly massacre was committed 31 years ago but is still remembered in all its horror. Thousands of civilians living in this city were surrounded and violently attacked on the night of February 26, 1992. That night, a massacre was wrought. Of those who tried to flee the attack, 613 civilians were killed.
The Armenians, acted in tandem with the 366th Motorized Infantry Regiment that had remained in the region after the collapse of the Soviet Union. First the villages around Khojaly were occupied. While this was happening, Khojaly and the civilians living there were surrounded by military units in preparation for the attack. Some special police units and 160 volunteers equipped with small arms were the only defenders of the city.
East of the city, the civilian population traversed a snowbound forest at night and in the morning. Together with some armed volunteers, they arrived directly above the Armenian village of Nakhchevanik. They were confronted by armed Armenian groups who shot at them. The volunteers returned fire in defense of the civilians, but they were outnumbered and outgunned. The entire group, volunteers and civilians were killed.
The number of deaths in the flight from Khojaly became clear after the incident. 613 civilians, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 elderly, were killed in the massacre. Eight families were completely destroyed, 487 people were maimed and 1,275 were captured. It is believed that more than 150 people are still missing today. In the city, about two to three hundred civilians stayed in the bomb shelters.
There is still no justice to this day.
The Armenian side had two main goals: first, that the civilian population would leave their country and never return; and secondly, to facilitate the extension of the invasion by frightening the civilian population in the nearby provinces and thus breaking the resistance of the Karabakh civilians against the Armenian occupation. In fact, after Khojaly, the entire province of Karabakh and its surroundings was quickly occupied. Civilian resistance in those areas was broken over fears that what happened in Khojaly could happen again.
- Would you like to visit Khojaly, as well?
Unfortunately, during my travels to and in Karabakh, I have not yet had the opportunity to visit Khojaly due to the restrictions in place, but I have been able to talk to the survivors of this genocide, view photos and hear their heartbreaking stories. It's a shame what happened in Khojaly on this night.
The crimes committed in Khojaly have fulfilled the following requirements: There is clear and convincing evidence of an intention to destroy a group in whole or in part. The fact that the destruction that took place in Khojaly was "significant" enough to affect the defined group as a whole; and the crime committed within a specific geographic location.
- Finally, what would you like to say to the perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide?
Anyone who can come up with such a thing must have a very rotten character. The idea that you have to "exterminate" people because of religion or any other reason is not in line with normal human thinking. So in my opinion it was not humans but horrific beasts that caused this gruesome massacre in Khojaly. I express the hope that all those who have behaved in this way will be punished for their sickening behavior against the people of Karabakh.
- Your last thoughts to Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis.
I express the wish that in the future all Azerbaijans can return to their former homes and live peacefully forever. Long live Azerbaijan. Long live Karabakh. In the end, I would like to say that now I am going to continue with my new book and it is about the capital Shusha.
Ednews
