About ten days after the Armenians committed the Khojaly genocide, nearly 30 children from Khojaly were brought to Türkiye for social-psychological rehabilitation and protection with the help of Azerbaijani artist Rafiq Aziz, Bedrettin Dalan, former mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, head of "ISTEK" Foundation, founder of Yeditepe University, told Report.
Dalan said that he learned from Turkish TV channels that such a terrible genocide was committed against Azerbaijanis on the night of February 25-26, 1992, and decided to support the victims of the genocide. Thus, those children received psychological assistance in Türkiye. After the rehabilitation period, when Rafiq Aziz returned to Azerbaijan with the children, Bedrettin Dalan asked him to bring ten minors displaced by Armenian bandits to Türkiye to protect them. Afterward, Aziz returned to Azerbaijan and brought ten children from Karabakh, some from Khojaly, to Türkiye. He helped Azerbaijani children in Türkiye by paying all their education fees and living expenses.
Speaking about the painful fate of the victims of the tragedy, Dalan spoke about the incident that happened to one of the children from Khojaly who were taken to Türkiye: "One of the children was quite traumatized. Armenians brutally killed the father of that child in front of him. After his father was killed, the child lost his speech ability. We worked for almost a year for that child to speak. Special doctors and psychologists were appointed for that child. Finally, after a year of difficult treatment, the child could speak. Then, he went to school and entered a university. He even received master's and Ph.D. degrees. He is currently married and has a child. But he still suffers from headaches due to the tragedies and traumas from his childhood. Unfortunately, although he started speaking again, his headache was not cured."
Dalan said that he is still in contact with the children who were taken from Khojaly to Türkiye: "After growing up, some children returned to Azerbaijan, while others live in Türkiye. I am aware of all of them. In fact, one of them is my daughter, and she stays with me. I am their stand-in father and raised them as my own children. Thank goodness they are all employed now. Azerbaijani children are our own children. Because we are one nation, we are all Turks. We treated each child as a piece of our soul during these years."