30 years pass since Khojaly genocide - criminals considered elite in Armenia

Armenia, Armenians, and their patrons have committed numerous tragedies in Azerbaijan over the past 30 years. Unfortunately, the perpetrators of these crimes have not been punished. They continue their activities against Azerbaijan today.

A rocket attack by Armenia on civilian buildings and a residential building in Ganja on October 4, 8, 11, and 17, 2020 killed 27 people and injured 125 others. The United Nations, the European Union, Turkey, and other countries have condemned the rocket attacks. Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies have launched a criminal case against them. Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev recently made a statement on the attack on Ganja with rockets and artillery shells. According to him, 1,700 people were identified and interrogated as victims as part of the investigation into the incident. The head of the separatists, Arayik Harutyunyan, admitted that he had given instructions on the crime. A criminal case has been launched against four separatists - Arayik Harutyunyan, his aides David Babayan, Jalal Harutyunyan, and Arman Babajanyan, who ordered the terror against the civilian population, and they have been declared internationally wanted.

The Ganja tragedy is the largest massacre committed by Armenians in Azerbaijan after the Khojaly genocide. February 26, 2022 is the 30th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide. On the night of February 25-26, 1992, the Armenian Armed Forces, with the participation of the 366th Motorized Rifle Regiment of Russia, committed genocide against ethnic Azerbaijanis during the occupation of Khojaly. This crime killed 613 Khojaly residents, including 63 children, 106 women, 70 older people and destroyed eight families. As a result, 25 children lost both parents and 130 children - one of their parents. 487 people, including 76 children, were wounded, and Armenian and Russian peacekeepers took 1,275 prisoners. The fate of 150 captives, including 68 women and 26 children, is still unknown. The tragedy was adopted by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Mexican Senate, the parliaments of Peru, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Honduras, Jordan, the plenary session of the National Assembly (parliament) of the Republic of Djibouti, and other legislatures. More than 24 US states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin have recognized and condemned the Khojaly genocide.

The common name of the criminal acts committed by Armenia and Armenians in Azerbaijan is the Khojaly genocide. This year marks the 30th anniversary of two other similar crimes. On February 17, 1992, the Armenians attacked the village of Garadagli in Khojavend with the help of military forces and equipment of the 366th Motorized Rifle Regiment stationed in Khankendi. As a result, 117 people were taken captive, 66-90 civilians, including 21 elderly, 10 women and 8 schoolchildren, were murdered. 146 children lost parents. The invaders destroyed 200 homes, one culture house, 320 secondary schools, 25-bed hospital and other objects. Some 800 residents of the village have been displaced. Some of the civilians were brutally murdered. 3 residents were burned alive, two were beheaded. Armenians committed genocide on April 8, 1992, in the village of Aghdaban in Kalbajar. As a result of this crime, Armenians completely burned the village of Aghdaban, consisting of 130 houses. 779 civilians were tortured, and 67 were brutally killed. In addition, two people were missing, and 12 people were seriously injured.

The 44-day war once again proved the essence of Armenia and Armenianness. It turned out that there is no human and legal norm for them. Arayik Harutyunyan confirmed this by ordering to shell a residential building in Ganja. There is no difference between him and the anti-human behavior of those who subjected civilians to genocide in Khojaly.

One of the prominent ideologues of the Armenians, Zori Balayan, wrote in his book "Revival of our spirit" about the genocide committed in Khojaly on February 26, 1992: "When we together with Khachatur entered the house we seized, we saw a 13-year old Turk (Azerbaijani) nailed to the window by our soldiers. I stripped the skin of his head, breast, and belly off. The child died seven minutes later as a result of blood loss. My soul was proud of joy. Then Khachatur chopped his body and gave to a dog. We did it with three more Turk children that evening. I carried out my duty as an Armenian patriot. I knew that every Armenian will be proud of our actions."

One of the authors of the Khojaly genocide, former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, said the following about the crime committed in Khojaly:
"Before Khojaly, the Azerbaijanis thought that they were joking with us; they thought that the Armenians would never attack civilians. We needed to put a stop to all that. And that's what happened." Asked whether he regretted the deaths of thousands of people, Serzh Sargsyan said: "I have no regrets ... Even if thousands of people die, such harsh measures are necessary."

The crimes committed by Zori Balayan, Serzh Sargsyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, and such Armenians against civilians show that the attitude of the ideologues and leaders of this ethnos towards Turks and Azerbaijanis has not changed for more than a hundred years. At the beginning of the last century, Andranik, Garegin Nzhdeh, Shaumyan, and other Armenian leaders treated Turks, including Azerbaijanis, in a similar way. One of the main reasons for this is that they go unpunished. As a rule, the great powers embraced them, rewarding them for their crimes. These forces, together with the 366th Regiment of Russia, helped the perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide to rise to high positions in Armenia. Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan became presidents. Seyran Ohanyan was appointed Minister of Defense. It turns out that those who help and reward the Kocharyans, Sargsyan, Harutyunyan, Ohanyans are their criminal partners. For the past 30 years, when Armenia committed genocides, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, whom Armenians considered democratic, was president. In other words, regardless of their democrats or reactionaries, they have a grudge against Turks and Azerbaijanis.

The Azerbaijani public expects the perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide and those who helped them to be punished at the international level since they have committed crimes against humanity. Intentional killing, intentional injury, torture, enslavement, deprivation of liberty deeds are crimes against humanity.

Unfortunately, the perpetrators of the genocide are considered the political elite in Armenia, and the world's leading states and representatives of international organizations are still shaking hands with them. The impunity of such people leads to the commission of new crimes, the strengthening of inter-ethnic revenge, and the emergence of new conflicts on national grounds. In this regard, the international community is late in punishing the perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide.