11 April 2008, 14:58
Nagorno-Karabakh places data on Maraga tragedy in Internet
Upon the initiative of the Karabakh-based company "Mlechny Put" (Milky Way) supported by the government of Nagorno-Karabakh, the website www.maragha.nk.am was launched with the information about the massacre of Armenians committed in the Karabakh village of Maraga, located in the Martakert District, on April 10, 1992.
The website presents documentary materials - written and oral evidences, photos and videos.
At night of April 10, 1992, the Azerbaijani OMON (Special Militia), supported by machinery of the 4th Soviet Army deployed in Kirovabad, attacked the village, then inhabited by more than 5000 people. The 200-strong self-defence unit could not resist tanks and armoured troop-carriers, and Azerbaijanis entered the village. Four hours later, Maraga was liberated by united self-defence regiments.
After liberation, the village was visited by baroness Caroline Cokes, the then Vice-Speaker of the House of Lords of the British Parliament. The only attempt to give international coverage to the events in Maraga was undertaken by the organization "Against Legal Arbitrariness" (leader - Larissa Alaverdyan). Plenty of materials were prepared for presentation to the United Nations, but the work remained unfinished.
"By our materials, we have concluded that on that day 81 persons were brutally assassinated in Maraga, and 67 more were taken as prisoners of war. Some of the hostages were later returned or exchanged, but the fate of many of them still remains unknown," says journalist Narine Agabalyan, the project manager.
Author: Naira Ayrumian, CK correspondent
