MARAGHA THE BLOODIEST EPISODE OF THE WAR IN KARABAKH

KarabakhOpen
10-04-2007 10:31:38

On April 9 the presentation of the disk "Maragha" produced by the
Milky Way Studio took place at Artsakh State University.

April 10 is the 15th anniversary of the tragedy in the village of
Maragha, Martakert. In the night of April 10, 1992 the Azerbaijani
special operational force and the Fourth Soviet Army stationed in
Kirovabad attacked the village, which had a population of 5 thousand
by that time. The 200 militants of the village could not stop the
tanks and the armored machines, and the Azerbaijanis captured the
village. In four hours Maragha was liberated by the joint defense
squads. However, the Armenian militants still remember the horrible
picture they saw. Dead bodies torn to parts, people burnt alive,
old people and children taken hostages… People were not just killed.

"It was perhaps the bloodiest episode of the war in Karabakh. What
happened in Maragha was the consequence of the policy conducted by
Azerbaijan for years on. The seeds of hatred grew at the convenient
moment – Sumgait, Maragha…

Unfortunately, the policy of inciting hatred continues, which does
not allow setting up friendly relations between our countries,"
said Speaker Ashot Ghulyan during the presentation.

"The massacres of the peaceful population in Maragha had nothing to do
with the military actions. These people did not threaten Azerbaijan,
the village was not a weapon emplacement. However, the criminals have
not assumed responsibility yet," said Vahram Atanesyan, the chair of
the Committee of External Relations.

Narine Aghabalyan, director of the Milky Way Studio, said the disc
contains documents, stories of witnesses, the participants and the
victims, photos, footages of the next day of the tragedy, as well as a
film based on the stories of witnesses. After the liberation Baroness
Caroline Cox arrived at the village. An interview with her and passages
from her book about ethnic cleansing were included in the disk as well.

Narine Aghabalyan told that the only effort to make the events
in Maragha known to the world was made by the Organization Against
Legal Arbitrariness (director Larissa Alaverdyan). A lot of materials
were accumulated, which were to be presented to the UN but the work
stopped halfway.

All the materials that the organization had collected were included in
the disk. Narine Aghabalyan said the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs
provided archive materials and legal documents. The disk also includes
newspaper stories.

The production was sponsored by the American businessman Vardges
Anivyan, the owner of the milk factory of Stepanakert.

"According to these materials, on that day 81 people were slaughtered,
67 were taken hostages. Some hostages were later returned or exchanged,
but many are still missing. 260 families, 880 people, remained in
Karabakh after those events. Now the village of Maragha is in the
neutral territory. In satellite photos we can see that the village
has been razed to the ground," Narine Aghabalyan says.

"In New Maragha 530 people live. We started living in this village
because there is nowhere else we can go to. And we have the right to
live there until we return to our native village," said the head of
the community of Nor Maragha Roma Karapetyan.

Most inhabitants of Maragha live in Russia. "We still have contact
with them, but they are reluctant to return," said the head of the
community.

"Azerbaijan was able to persuade the UN to send a mission to Karabakh
to " prove" that Armenians live in the liberated territories. Where
are the people of Maragha supposed to live? Where are those 7000
people who lived in Maragha, Margushavan? Isn’t the UN supposed to
think about them?" Narine Aghabalyan said.