Religious leaders appeal for Khojaly recognition

22/2/2012

The heads of four religious denominations in Azerbaijan have issued an appeal to parliaments and heads of state to recognize the Khojaly massacre as genocide.

The 20th anniversary of the massacre falls on Sunday 26 February.
During the night of 25-26 February 1992, 613 Azerbaijani civilians were killed in an attack by Armenian forces, backed by an ex-Soviet regiment, on the town of Khojaly in Nagorno-Karabakh. Most of the victims perished as they fled the town. The massacre was the worst of the Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The appeal for recognition of the massacre as genocide is signed by Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, head of the Caucasus Muslims Department, Bishop Alexander of the Baku and Azerbaijani Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, Semen Ikhiilov, head of the Community of Mountain Jews of Azerbaijan, and Vladimir Fekete, ordinary of the Roman Catholic Church in Azerbaijan, AzerTAj reports.

The appeal reads:

“In the name of the One Creator!

“For 20 years expressing the will and feelings of millions of Azerbaijani citizens, we strongly appeal to the entire world community, regardless of religion, language, race and ethnicity, to world leaders responsible for the fate of our planet, heads of state, parliaments and international organizations, since we are sure that the world cannot have a nation or religion that would deny universal spiritual values and justify such inhumane acts and bloody crimes of violence, murder and aggression.

“Civilization has always hatefully stigmatized crimes against humanity and at all times cursed the acts of killers who have lost their human face. In the bloody memory of humanity, double standards are unacceptable. But one of the bloodiest pages of world history – the Khojaly tragedy, which we have been declaring throughout the world for 20 years now has not been wholly condemned at international level and the culprits have not been punished in the appropriate manner.

“There is no honour for civilization in its indifference towards atrocities such as the merciless attack of Armenian militants on 26 February 1992 on more than 10,000 peaceful, unarmed and defenceless inhabitants of Khojaly, in which 613 people were brutally killed, a ruthless attitude was shown towards the elderly, children and pregnant women, 1,275 people were taken prisoner and subjected to inhuman torture and corpses were desecrated. It is regrettable and bewildering that the majority of world states and international organizations still ignore this unprecedented crime.

“The sad reality is that Armenian extremists, having not yet been punished for their crimes and not facing any sanctions for ignoring the resolutions of international organizations including the UN, have occupied 20% of our territories, driven millions of Azerbaijanis from their homes, vandalized the occupied lands, ruined our cultural monuments, mosques and cemeteries, conducted moral and material terror and appropriated historical documents and objects.

“The culmination of all these atrocities was the act of genocide perpetrated in Khojaly. There are living witnesses, historical evidence and visual evidence of this bloody tragedy of modern history – the Khojaly genocide.

“It’s regrettable that in the modern world, we can see people who are concerned not about genuine acts of genocide but about unproven historical events described as genocide. The trend to recognize non-existent genocide and present the perpetrators of genocide as ‘genocide victims’ bothers us.

“Despite the fact that our long-standing appeal for a political and legal assessment of the Khojaly genocide, which the Azerbaijani people experienced in the recent past -1992, has not brought the expected result, we believe that the world will not remain indifferent to the voice of the people of Azerbaijan, who have suffered acts of genocide, and will help to restore their rights and historical justice.

“We hope that the persistent spread of Azerbaijani realities in the world, associated with the genocide in Khojaly, will help reveal the true face of Armenian aggressors who, in order to continue their false propaganda, do not stop even at plagiarizing information.

“We, religious figures, wish all the peoples of the world peace, happiness, tranquillity and prosperity and consider it important to remind everyone that our sacred duty to our own conscience and before God is to achieve justice.

“Today our fellow citizens are waiting, with the help of God, for civilization to take a fair position. If today civilization does not respond to the voice of justice, then tomorrow it could fall victim to injustice and infamy. So, again we call upon heads of state, parliament, religious leaders, public and religious organizations of the world to give a principled legal evaluation of the aggression and atrocities of the Armenian extremists against the Azerbaijani people and to recognize the Khojaly tragedy as an act of genocide.

“May the Creator help us all in good deeds, give us the ability to distinguish good from evil and to be just, Amen!

“Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade,
“Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Board

“Vladimir Fekete,
“Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Church in Azerbaijan”

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