When tragic events took place in Karabakh, Armenian militants killed civilians, committed genocide in Khojaly and killed more than 600 civilians overnight, including elderly women and children, the international media were silent, Lithuanian military journalist Ricardas Lapaitis told reporters in Shusha, where he is participating in the Global Media Forum.
He noted that in February 1992, during the First Karabakh War, he found himself in Karabakh, at the very epicenter of events.
"If the world media had not been silent then, had not turned a blind eye to the tragic events, these were not even tragic events, but a real genocide, this would not have happened later in Bucha (Ukraine) and other places. Then there was a lot of misinformation from the Armenian politicians, they hid the truth about Khojaly. And if the international media had come there, the truth would have been heard in the world," he said.
According to Lapaitis, the journalists who were then in Karabakh and saw the bodies of those killed in Khojaly and in other places could be counted on the fingers. "Even the most authoritative big media, Reuters, the BBC did not come there ...", the correspondent noted with regret.
He shared his memories of those tragic events and stated that he then swore to himself to always write the truth and fight for justice, which he did in his future work when he worked in Chechnya and other "hot" spots. Although, as the journalist noted, he repeatedly received threatening messages.
According to Lapaitis, he is extremely happy to be in Shusha now, which for others may be just a fortress and stones, but for every Azerbaijani, is a hometown, the birthplace of Azerbaijani mugham, famous poets, writers and thinkers, the pearl of the Caucasus and the cultural capital of the country.
"I always believed and hoped that we would return here. I believed that Karabakh would prosper again," he said, noting that he could not even dream that after so many years he would drink tea and coffee in Shusha.
Lapaitis expressed his gratitude to Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President - Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, for the invitation to the Global Media Forum and for creating an opportunity for him to see the revival of Karabakh 30 years later with his own eyes.