The young people of Nagorno-Karabakh held a procession in memory of the victims of the tragedy in Maraga

A youth procession devoted to the 20th anniversary of the tragic events in the settlement of Maraga, Martakert district, was held in Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The youth procession in memory of the victims of the tragedy in Maraga in which students of universities, colleges and senior pupils took part started on April, 9, at 13:00 local time.

A prayer for the repose of the souls of all those killed in Karabakh war passed off in St. Akop church. During the liturgy the names of the residents of the settlement of Maraga who perished on April, 10, 1992, were read out.

After that young people with slogans "Acknowledge genocide of the Armenians!", "We demand justice without compromises!" moved in the direction of Stepanakert memorial complex where they laid flowers at the memorial to the victims of Sumgaiyt tragedy and held a brief meeting honouring the memory of the victims with a minute of silence.

On April, 10, 1992, after a three-hour preliminary bombardment, units of regular Army of Azerbaijan entered the Karabakh settlement of Maraga from the settlement of Mir-Bashir (now called Tartar). About 100 people, generally women, old folk and children, became victims of the military actions. Almost two weeks later, on April, 22 and 23, Maraga underwent a new attack and the residents who returned to the settlement after the first one had to leave it forever.

Susanna Petrosyan, leader of one of the non-governmental youth organizations, emphasized the necessity to remind the World community that "nobody should keep silence and it is high time to give the respective estimation to these severe murders".

By their action the young people demand to acknowledge genocide in Maraga, Tatev Sarkisyan, a participant of the procession, student of Armenian State University, declared.

The procession was organized with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs.