BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 26. The Azerbaijani people paid tribute to the victims of the Khojaly massacre by visiting the "Mother’s Cry" monument in Baku, TurkicWorld reports.
The monument was visited on the 34th anniversary of the Khojaly massacre, one of the most horrific tragedies of the 20th century. State and government officials, intellectuals, public figures, and ordinary citizens laid wreaths and flowers at the monument to honor the memory of those lost.
Today marks the 34th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide committed by Armenian armed forces. The Khojaly genocide stands as one of the bloodiest tragedies of Armenia’s occupation and genocide policy against Azerbaijan.
On the night from February 25-26, 1992, Armenian armed forces attacked Khojaly, which had been under blockade since October 1991, with its road and energy connections severed, and carried out mass atrocities against Azerbaijani civilians. The massacre was perpetrated with the assistance of the 366th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the former Soviet Armed Forces.
During the killings, 613 people were brutally murdered, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly persons. A total of 487 people sustained injuries of varying degrees, 1275 were taken captive and subjected to torture, 8 families were annihilated, 130 children lost one parent, and 25 lost both parents. The fate of many hostages remains unknown.
These atrocities were not merely military operations but part of a policy driven by ethnic hatred and discrimination. Similar targeted massacres against Azerbaijanis in settlements such as Baghanis Ayrim, Jamilli, Karkijahan, Meshali, Malibeyli, Garadaghli, Tugh, and Salakatin further demonstrate the systematic and premeditated nature of the Khojaly genocide.
