A commemoration day was held in the Garakilsa district community of the Western Azerbaijan Community in connection with the Genocide Day of Azerbaijanis, Ednews reports.

The event made its oppening by Azade Novruzova, an employee of the Office of the Ombudsman, a pensioner of the President, the chairman of the Sheki village community of the Western Azerbaijan Community, Garakilsa district, and appealed to the participants of the meeting to remember our martyrs and compatriots who have been sleeping in the lands of Western Azerbaijan, whose graves have not been visited for 36 years, in silence. The national anthem of Azerbaijan is the oath of every Azerbaijani. The sounds of our national anthem inspired all the participants of the event, and the host of the event, Azade Novruzova, noted that it is the duty of each of us to honor the memory of the victims of the genocide. Because this is our blood memory. Historical facts have been published over and over again, they should be conveyed to future generations and the public.

Azade Novruzova noted the historical importance of the decree issued by the national leader Heydar Aliyev as the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on March 26, 1998, on recognizing March 31 as the "Day of the Genocide of Azerbaijanis" and said that we should unite closely around the "Iron Fist" for the sake of our national duties. 

Then the floor was given to Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, Professor Nadir Kahramanov. N. Kahramanov spoke with heartache about the brutal destruction of the village of Urud, where he was born, by Armenian nationalists, the bloody massacres that took place in Zangezur, Western Azerbaijan on March 31, 1918, and specially noted the eternal existence of these tragedies in our blood memory. In 1918, the professor talked about the brutal killing of tens of thousands of peaceful, unarmed Azerbaijanis in Zangezur district by the Dashnaks, and drew attention to the historical facts. 

The elder of the event, poet, publicist Avaz Mahmud Laladag spoke about the Armenian atrocities he had seen since his childhood, especially after the establishment of the Republic of Ararat established on the lands of Azerbaijan, he touched upon the facts related to the killing and extermination of the Turkish-Muslim population down to the last baby in Belek, and drew attention to the transformation of all these atrocities into the official policy of Armenia.

Poet Avaz Mahmud addressed the people of Garakilsa in a gloomy tone:

- My compatriots who are longing for the homeland, homesick! When I see each of you, I see our homelands, our priceless nature mixed up. 

 The elder of the Zangezur tribe, Avaz Mahmud, as a living witness of Armenian atrocities, brought important, unforgettable facts to the attention of the participants of the meeting:

- In 1961, Anastas Mikoyan came to Zangezur - Garakilsa, I remember they brought Armenian girls specially to give him flowers. Mikoyan asked the Armenian woman who presented him with a bouquet of flowers: How many children do you have? Woman: I have 5 children. Mikoyan: There are too few, the Armenian people need to be multiplied.

- See, they were such chauvinists. It was like that yesterday, today and in the future. Armenian Dashnaks are armed from head to toe with hatred towards our people. I remember that these terrible creatures said that Azerbaijanis should stay away from the places where Armenians work from April 1 until the end, otherwise they will be killed. 

They tricked Nikita Khrushchev, who visited Armenia in 1961, and persuaded Khrushchev to hand over a large amount of funds from the financial budget of that time to the Armenian state. Even Khrushchev was surprised when he saw the state funds that were put in front of him later and said: Which idiot signed this?

- Yes, during Khrushchev's rule, Armenian chauvinists worked very actively and skilfully used the existing situation. In 1966-67, the Armenian leaders began to continue their dirty intentions. They were the followers of the bloodthirsty Andranik, who gathered people together in Muslim mosques and then set them on fire. That's why I say! Our youth should know our history, national and moral values.

After Heydar Aliyev came to power in 1969, the Armenian Dashnaks suppressed their dirty intentions. After Heydar Aliyev was removed from political power in 1988, Armenians started to implement genocidal policies again. Not even one Azerbaijani remained in his native land. This is our bitter fate. Homeland is our longing. 

Then, the floor was given to Ilham Novruzov, Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture:

- I was born and raised in Sheki village of Garakilsa. Our family faced a tragedy on a winter's day, in a blizzard. Humanity is not aware of Armenian atrocities. The calamities that have befallen our family are echoes of thousands of bloody scenarios carried out by Armenian Dashnaks. The massacres committed by the wild Armenian Dashnaks have left indelible bloody traces on the stage of history. When the people of our village, including our family, were expelled from our native lands, we had great and irreparable losses. It is impossible to express this pain in words. Bibi Namazova Shanisa Avaz's daughter perished in that snowy and blizzard night. To this day, my aunt is neither dead nor alive! It is a pity that the world is not aware of these massacres, or that they are silent knowing the truth.

Saida Guliyeva, chairman of the Sofulu village community, listed the facts related to the placement of Armenians in our historical lands - Nakhchivan, Yerevan, Karabakh. Saida Guliyeva also drew attention to the fact that the bourgeois revolution of February 1917 opened the arms and wings of the Armenian Dashnaks, and the treacherous enemy began to implement his plans with cunning. 115 villages were destroyed in Zangezur and 92 villages in Kars. We have a lot of pain. Archive documents are living witnesses, real facts must be communicated to the world community.    

Huseyn Babayev, a resident of Agdu village of Garakilsa:

- The territory of Garakilsa is rich in Albanian monuments. Armenian Dashnaks named these historical monuments after themselves. Humanity should recognize such ignorant people, because whatever land the Armenian Dashnaks step on, they say it is ours. 

 Tahir Guliyev, representative of Agdu village, Garakilsa region:

- Today, I see grief, sadness and longing on the faces of all those who came to the commemoration event. Yes, homesickness has gathered people here. On March 26, 1998, the national leader Heydar Aliyev signed a very important Decree on "March 31 Genocide Day of Azerbaijanis". The Azerbaijanis of the world, regardless of where they are, should not forget our blood memory. Because history has black and white pages. After our tricolor flag is waved in Karabakh, all of Azerbaijan walks proudly and proudly. President Ilham Aliyev fulfilled his father's will.

- Yes, Heydar Aliyev believed, waited for that day and knew that the just will win. Our Army, our people, and our President united like an "Iron Fist" and crushed the head of the deviant and unjust enemy, and we declared to the whole world as a victorious nation:

Karabakh is Azerbaijan!

The ancient lands of Zangezur and Iravan are our ancestral homes. We believe that we will return to the homeland!

Rauf Zeini, President of the NGO Forum, member of the Board of the Western Azerbaijan Community and the Board of the Garakilsa:

- We have been expelled from our homelands, our pain is great. This is our destiny, we did not choose this destiny, but we live this history. Bloody events: the massacres of 1918-20, the historical facts in the documents of the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry, consisting of 5,500 pages, should be conveyed to our people, especially to our youth. We must not forget the services of Khalil Bey Khasmammadov, the Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, who has worked tirelessly in writing 36 volumes of historical facts, and loved the Motherland above all else. 

We should keep a famous saying that our children have tested for centuries: "A fat enemy is not a friend".

- Yes, our land is our history and destiny! 

We have appealed to the international court through the International Diaspora Center, we must demand our rights, we must organize to convey the facts to the world and national community.

At the end of the event, there was a viewing of the documentary television film "Moved and the displaced" prepared by journalist Bakhtiyar Mammadov from Western Azerbaijan.