02:23, 26 February 2018

Azerbaijan pays tribute to victims of Khojaly tragedy

Azerbaijani residents come to the Memorial to the Khojaly victims in Khatai district of Baku, February 2015. Photo by Aziz Karimov for the Caucasian Knot.

Today, Azerbaijan marks the 26th anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy. Throughout the week preceding the anniversary of the tragedy, the events to pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the tragedy took place in Azerbaijan and abroad, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

At night of February 25-26, 1992, during the armed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian armed forces assaulted the town of Khojaly mainly populated by Azerbaijanis. For more than four months, the town of Khojaly stayed completely cordoned off until the Armenian forces took control over it. During this time, according to the Azerbaijani authorities, 613 civilians were killed, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 old people. 1275 civilians were taken hostage. Until present, the fate of 150 of them is unknown.

Throughout the week preceding the anniversary, schools and institutions of higher education arranged meetings with eyewitnesses of the tragedy and screening of documentary films about the tragic events. On the days preceding the mourning date, many Baku residents visited the "Call of the Mother" memorial complex, built in the Khatai District of the Azerbaijani capital in memory of the victims of the Khojaly tragedy.

Today, the first lessons in secondary schools are devoted to the tragic date. A mass march will be held to the monument "Call of the Mother". Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, members of the government and Parliament, leaders of religious confessions, as well as survivors from the Khojaly city will take part in the march, the presidential administration reports.

The marches will also take place to the memorials of the victims of the tragedy in the district centre of Goranboy and the village of Agdjakend, where internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Khojaly live in compact density.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Author: Faik Medzhid

Source: CK correspondent