BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 25. On February 25, the Heydar Aliyev Center hosted a commemoration event honoring the victims of the Khojaly genocide on the 33rd anniversary of the tragedy, TurkicWorld reports.
Organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the event began with a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims.
The Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra, named after Uzeyir Hajibayli and conducted by Honored Artist Fuad Ibrahimov, performed pieces by Azerbaijani composers, including Arif Melikov, Azer Dadashov, Farhad Badalbayli, Fikrat Amirov, Haji Khanmammadov, Rauf Aliyev, and Soltan Hajibayli.
On the night of February 25–26, 1992, Armenian armed forces, with the involvement of the 366th motorized rifle regiment of the former Soviet Union, carried out the Khojaly genocide. The attack claimed the lives of 613 civilians, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly people.
The Heydar Aliyev Foundation continues to lead initiatives to raise global awareness of the Khojaly genocide - one of the darkest chapters in history. Since 2008, at the initiative of Leyla Aliyeva, Vice President of the Foundation, the international Justice for Khojaly campaign has been working to ensure that the truth is known worldwide.
For the fifth year in a row, the Azerbaijani people have marked this somber anniversary in a profound way. The liberation of the lands that endured this tragedy has brought a sense of peace to the souls of the victims and fallen heroes. Under President Ilham Aliyev’s Great Return program, displaced residents of Khojaly are finally returning home, reviving a land that once bore the deep scars of genocide.
