Commemorating the 17th Anniversary of the Massacre at Khojaly

SPEECH OF HON. ED WHITFIELD OF KENTUCKY IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2009

• Mr. WHITFIELD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to solemnly recognize the 17th anniversary of the massacre at Khojaly, and to honor the lives of those lost in this great tragedy.

• On February 26, 1992, the small town of Khojaly, Azerbaijan was violently shaken by invading Armenian troops during the Armenian-Azerbaijan war. Armenian forces surrounded the town and opened fire on the innocent inhabitants. During this bloody incursion, nearly 2,000 civilians–mostly women, children and the elderly–were brutally killed, wounded or taken hostage by the Armenian military forces as they seized the town. This resulted in the largest massacre of modern times in the Caucasus and Caspian Basin.

• According to Human Rights Watch and other international observers, the massacre was committed by the ethnic Armenian armed forces, reportedly with the help of the Russian 366th Motor Rifle Regiment. This crime led to the death of 613 civilians; including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly men; 1275 persons were taken hostage, and the fate of more than 150 remains unknown.

• At the time, Newsweek Magazine reported, “Azerbaijan was a charnel house again last week: a place of mourning refugees and dozens of mangled corpses dragged to a makeshift morgue behind the mosque. They were ordinary Azerbaijani men, women and children of Khojaly, a small village in war-tom Nagorno-Karabakh overrun by Armenian forces on 25-26 February. Many were killed at close range while trying to flee; some had their faces mutilated, others were scalped.”

• Tragically, during this war, Khojaly was simply the first example of this savage cruelty. In fact, the level of brutality and the unprecedented atrocities committed at Khojaly set a pattern of destruction and ethnic cleansing that Armenian troops would adhere to for the remainder of the war. On November 29, 1993, Newsweek quoted a senior U.S. Government official as saying, “what we see now is a systematic destruction of every village in their (the Armenians) way. It’s vandalism.”

• Altogether, the occupied areas represent roughly 20 percent of the territory of Azerbaijan. And, altogether roughly one million Azerbaijanis were evicted from their homes over the course of the Armenian-Azerbaijan war.

• Armenia’s then-defense minister Serge Sarkisian in an interview with British journalist Tomas de Waal openly admitted that “before Khojaly the Azerbaijanis thought that ….. the Armenians were people who could not raise their hands against the civilian population. We were able to break that [stereotype].”
Madam Speaker, in recognition of this horrific day, an international humanitarian awareness campaign, “Justice for Khojaly,” was initiated by Mrs. Leyla Aliyeva, and provides much needed information on the massacre through its website for interested parties. In the wake of the 17th anniversary of this massacre, I encourage all of us to familiarize ourselves with this dreadful past so it is not repeated in the future. I also stand with all Azerbaijani-Americans as they recognize and commemorate this solemn day.

Posted by admin February 2009

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