Azerbaijan's letter to Secretary-General on Khojaly genocide circulated as official UN document

Azerbaijan's Permanent Representative to the UN Yashar Aliyev's letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the 30th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide has been released as an official document of the UN General Assembly and Security Council.

According to the document, this month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the largest massacre committed during the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan. Over the night of 25–26 February 1992, Armenian forces invading the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly in the former autonomous province of mountainous Garabagh killed 613 civilians, including 106 women, 63 children, and 70 elderly persons. Another 1,000 people were wounded, 1,275 residents of the town were taken hostage, and 150 went missing.

Despite a ceasefire established in 1994, Armenian forces continued attacking Azerbaijani civilians residing on the other side along the so-called line of contact. The resumption of hostilities in the fall of 2020 was the direct consequence of Armenia's disregard for international law and the relevant Security Council resolutions, consistent obstruction of the peace process, attempts to colonize the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, inflammatory and warmongering statements, and repeated provocations on the ground.

Thus, Azerbaijan is determined to continue efforts towards ensuring justice and preventing and eliminating by all available means, in accordance with its Constitution and legislation as well as the Charter of the United Nations and international law, any threats to the safety and well-being of its people and the State's sovereignty and territorial integrity.