THE TRUTH ABOUT KHOJALU EVENTS

KarabakhOpen
27-02-2008 14:45:31

An anti-Armenian campaign has been hysterically raging in Azerbaijan
throughout the years following the Khojalu events. The purpose of
the campaign is to falsify the facts and bring discredit on Armenia
in the eyes of the international community. The Khojalu events when
peaceful people died were only the result of the political intrigues
and struggle for power in Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani propaganda trumpeted about the barbarities of Armenians
to the whole world spreading terrifying shots by TV channels a field
covered by defiled corpses. It was said that Khojalu is the revenge
of Armenians for Sumgait .

The real reasons lying behind these events are more convincingly
reflected in the testimonies of the Azeris themselves, both the
participants, eyewitnesses of the events and those who knew the ins
and outs in Baku.

Khojalu was the second after Shushi in its Azeri population in
Artsakh-Nagorno Karabagh Republic (NKR). The settlement is found in the
strategically vital place and divides the territory of Artsakh-Karabakh
into two. It was the military strategic importance of Khojalu that
since the very beginning of the National-liberation movement of the
Armenian population in Artsakh the Azerbaijani authorities began
intensive construction works and settling the Azeris from remote
regions in Khojalu as well as Meskhetian Turks since 1989. Because
of this single-minded policy of changing the demographic situation
in Artsakh and dissection of the Armenians of the region held by
the Azerbaijani authorities the population of the settlement tripled
from 2135 in 1988 to 6300 in 1991. Owing to this kind of artificial
increase Khojalu was granted status of town. (Report of Memorial,
Nezavisimaya gazeta, 18.06.1992). No doubt people were moving into a
militarily and politically unstable region not on their own free will.

According to M. Safaroghli, an Azerbaijani journalist, "Khojalu was
located in an important strategic position. Losing control over Khojalu
would mean a political fiasco for Moutalibov". (Newspaper "Nezavisimaya
Gazeta" -"Independent Newspaper"- February, 1993). With Shushi and
Aghdam, Khojalu was one of the key bases from where Stepanakert,
the capital of NKR, was continuously bombed during three winter
months shelled steadily and mercilessly, with the use of artillery,
antihail rocket systems and war missile emplacements.

The population of NKR which was in the danger of the total physical
extinction by Azerbaijan could survive only by neutralizing the
weapon emplacements of Khojalu and deblocking the airport. Hundreds of
peaceful people were killed in Stepanakert as the result of the daily
bombing from the close Khojalu. The military operation of the armed
forced of NKR to neutralize the weapon emplacements of Khojalu was
not a surprise for Azerbaijan. For the first time the Azeri side was
notified about the forthcoming attack by TV nearly two months before
the operation. Arif Yunusov, a well-known champion of human rights
in Azerbiajan, wrote about that in "Izvestia". The officials in Baku
did not try to hide their awareness, including Ayaz Moutalibov, the
president of Azerbaijan. He stressed that " the offense on Khojalu
was not a surprise" ("Ogoniok (Fire) Magazine, N 14-15, 1992). In
the interview to the Nezavisimaya gazeta newspaper he stated that
the corridor by which people could leave was reserved by Armenians
( Nezavisimaya gazeta newspaper, April 2, 1992). In his interview to
the Novoe Vremya journal Moutalibov confirmed his statement: It was
obvious shooting the Khojalu people was organized by somebody for
removing the power in Azerbaijan ( Novoe Vremya journal, March 6,
2001). As the result of these warnings most of the peaceful people
of Khojalu moved to safe zones.

The following fact is another proof the Azerbaijani authorities
were told on the forthcoming anticipatory assault of Armenians on
Khojalu. By midFebruary 1992 before leaving for Minsk to the summit
of the CIS, President A. Mutalibov ordered to throw all the collected
reserves of the military equipment in the Aghdam region. 11 tanks and
12 infantry fighting machines BMP-2 were quickly delivered there,
which with the available in Aghdam 44 caterpillar armored machines
of BRDM type, equipped with 12 millimeters calibers machine-guns
presented an inspiring force, which could help the Khojalu settlers
in case of an attack in any moment, but was also threaten Stepanakert
itself. (Kiril Stolyarov, op. cit. p. 251).

Besides, the Azerbaijani forces in Khojalu and Aghdam region were
equipped with over 35. 000 units of machine-guns and submachine guns
with enough number of cartridges ( Kiril Stolyarov, op. cit. p. 268).

By the beginning of the assault part of the civilian population
of Khojalu left the settlement, and by the end of February 1992,
according to various sources, some 1000 to 2500 people still remained
there, mostly peaceful civilians and soldiers of Azerbaijani armed
formations. On February 15 the Armenian side made an ultimatum:
the civilian population of Khojalu was offered to leave with a white
flag. (Helsinki Watch, op. cit., 1994, p. 20).

The detachments of NKR did everything possible to exclude the death of
the peaceful population of the settlement and left a corridor for the
safe evacuation of the peaceful population from the zone of military
actions. The Azeri side was timely informed about the opened corridor
which allowed to evacuate the people of Khojalu. Elman Mamedov,
the mayor of Khojalu: "We knew the corridor was left for the exit
of the peaceful people" ("Russkaya Misl" 03.03.1992, citation from
"Bakinskie Rabochiy" newspaper).

In the beginning of the attack, started on February 25, at 23:00 p.m.,
the Armenian forces of NKR self-defense opened an aimed artillery fire
against military objects and positions of the Azerbaijani forces,
dislocated in the central part of the settlement. The successful
shots spread havoc among the Azerbaijanis, which did not show serious
resistance. Neither there was a more or less stubborn street fight
in Khojalu; by 4 o clock in the morning of February 26 the last
centers of resistance were suppressed. Observers of the Memorial
right protection organization inspecting the destructions in Khojalu
confirmed the fact of artillery and not street fighting, which could
result in many casualties. (Ibid.)

It is worth mentioning the order number 1, regulating the conduct
of the members of the Armenian armed forces of NKR self-defense,
strictly forbid any violence against the civilians of the adversary.

After the operation was over 11 bodies of Azeris were found by the
rescue group "Artsakh" in the village and its neighboring areas,
naturally, counting out the bodies of the members of the armed
formations dressed in uniforms (their number was also small). The
insignificant number of the peaceful victims of Khojalu in the
view of the intense military actions undertaken to hold control
over the settlement evidenced the Armenian side had taken all
measures on ensuring the maximal possible security of the people
of the village. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that a significant
number of the peaceful population of Khojalu became victims of the
operation. How many of the people of Khojalu were killed and where?

The Azeri side is categorically silent about the place of the death
of hundreds of residents of the village. The truth is that all of
them were coolly murdered at the distance of 11 km from Khojalu,
about 2-3 km far from Aghdam which then used to be the regional
military base of the Azeri armed forces. This mere fact is enough
for casting light on the intricate story about the massive extinction
of the residents of Khojalu. It is hard to understand why should the
Armenians let the population of Khojalu flee from the besieged village
to kill them on the approaches of Aghdam putting their lives at risk
(then Aghdam was under the control of the Azeris).

In his interview to "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" Moutalibov stated that
"however, the Armenians had left a corridor for the escape of the
people. Why a fire should have opened then? ("Nezavisimaya Gazeta",
April 2, 1992). He linked the fact of the criminal fusillade of
the peaceful people with the attempts of the opposition to remove
him from power, laying the responsibility for the tragedy entirely
on him. In his interview to "Novoye Vremia" ("New Time") Magazine
Moutalibov confirmed his statement which was made nine days before:
"It was obvious the some people had organized the shooting for shifting
the power in Azerbaijan" ("Novoye Vremia", March 6, 2001). Similar
statements and assessments of the Khojalu events were made by several
other Azerbaijani top officials and journalists.

R. Hajiyev, member of the Operating Committee of Aghdam Branch of
NFA (National Front of Azerbaijan): We could have helped the people
of Khojalu because we had the resources and means. However, the
authorities of the republic wanted to show to the people of Azerbaijan
that they are not able to do so and ask for assisting the CIS Army and
with the help of the latter also neutralize the opposition" (Moscow,
"Izvestia", April, 1992).

Tamerlan Karayev, the former Chairman of the Supreme Council
of Azerbaijan testifies: "The tragedy was perpetrated by the
Azeri authorities", in particular, "some of the top officials"
("Moukhtalifat" Newspaper, April 28, 1992). Yana Mazalova, a
Czech journalist, who, because of the oversight of the Azeris, was
included in both of the groups of journalists who visited the place
of the events on the first day and several days later, noticed the
stunning difference how the bodies looked at the first and second site
visits. When Mazalova visited the site immediately after the events
she saw the bodies did not bear any traces of brutality whereas a
couple of days later the bodies "adulterated" by the Armenians and
"ready" for the cameras were demonstrated to the journalists.

Who killed the peaceful people of Khojalu and later defiled their
bodies, if the tragedy took place not in the village liberated by the
Armenians, and not along the direction of the humanitarian corridor,
but on the close approaches of Aghdam town, a territory which was
entirely under the control of the National Front of Azerbaijan? Chingiz
Moustafayev (Fuat-oghli), an independent Azeri TV journalist and
cameraman who filmed the aftereffect on February 28 and March 2,
1992, doubted the official version of Azerbaijan and began his own
investigation. His life was the price for his very first report to
the Moscow News Agency "DR-Press" about the possible involvement
of the Azeri side in the crime: he was killed not far from Aghdam,
and the details of the murder still remain not revealed.

Moustafayev reported about the flight to Khojalu. He noted
that he could not film the dead bodies there, because "there
was not a single killed person there ". In the course of the
first flight the journalists shot only a couple of dozens of
bodies of the Azeri soldiers which were found not far from the
village of Nakhichevanik. However, most of the bodies were near
Aghdam where they were video-filmed on February 29 and later March
2. These tapes were displayed at the session of Milli Medjlis and,
later, many TV channels of the world as an evidence of the massive
manslaughter of the Azeri population of Khojalu. The first flight
of the helicopter with the Azeri journalists on board took place on
February 29, 1992. It is noteworthy the journalists who were told
about the massive offense of the Azeris in Khojalu flew directly to
the place of the events. However, they did not find any evidence of
the happenings and flew back. During the second flight to the region
of the massive slaughter, on March 2, 1992, the journalists noticed
the positions of the dead bodies lying on the ground and the level
of the injuries and physical impairment was astonishingly different
compared to the first inspection. Chingiz Moustafayev (Fuat-oghli)
told the Azeri president A. Moutalibov about the changed positions of
the bodies and their physical impairment. Undoubtedly, by that time
the Azeri president understood the reasons which caused falsifying the
tragedy. Moutalibov gave a really prophetic answer to the journalist,
"Chingiz, don’t tell anyone that you think something is wrong because
they’ll kill you". Chingiz Moutafayev was killed in the same field
where he had shot the main Azeri "argument".

The former president of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev personally admitted
the "former leadership of Azerbaijan was also at fault of the Khojalu
events".

As early as in April of 1992 the following was articulated by him,
"The bloodshed will do good to us. We shouldn’t interfere in the
course of events" (Bilik-Duniasi News Agency). It is out of question
who gained from the "bloodshed". Megapolis-Express wrote: "It is
impossible not to admit that if the National Front of Azerbaijan
in fact had defined far-reaching goals, it succeeded in addressing
them. Moutalibov is compromised and forced out of his post, the
international community is in shock, the Azeris and their brotherly
Turks believed in the so-called "genocide of the Azerbaijani people
in Khojalu"("Megapolis-Express", N17, 1992).

The Azeri mass media was silent in its comments on the Khojalu events
about another tragic detail which was revealed later: 47 Armenians
were held hostage in the "peaceful" Khojalu since February 26. After
the liberation of Khojalu only 13 of these hostages were found in the
settlement (including 6 women and 1 child), the remaining 34 were taken
away by the Azeris in the unknown direction. All that is known about
these hostages is that at the night of the operation they were driven
away from the place of imprisonment, but not from the settlement. There
is no information about their further status as hostages. It is obvious
the bodies of the Armenian hostages were tormented beyond the degree
when they could be identified. This was done to create the illusion
the bodies of the victims "had been defiled" by the Armenians. This
is the reason why the bodies of the wretched victims were outraged
to the extent that it was impossible to identify the victims.

It follows from the above-described facts the blame for the death
of the peaceful people of Khojalu and those Armenians who had been
taken hostage in the village lies on the Azeris. The Azerbaijani side
committed a crime against its own people, and the motivation lies in
the political intrigues and lust for power.

Other Testimonies

It is obvious that those who wanted to make an appearance of
disfiguring of corpses by Armenians, disfigured first the bodies of
the Armenian hostages, in order they are never identified. Clothes
were taken off the corpses, the bodies of unlucky victims were treated
outrageously, being changed beyond recognition.

Rahim Ghaziev, one of the former Azeri defense ministers who was jailed
for 10 years on charge of state treason (He was accused of leaving
Shushi to Armenians), said in the interview to that
a trap was prepared for Mutalibov in Khojalu to remove him.

Ghaziev said that he received information about the attack of the
Armenian forces against Khojalu on February 16, 1992. "On February 25,
I again received information about the preparations of the attack,"
Ghaziev said. He added the Azeri Armed Forces had enough arms to
help the Khojalu people and stop the Armenians. Those days, the Azeri
defense minister said that it was possible to avert the disaster and
keep their positions.

Tamerlan Karaev, former Chairman of the Supreme Council of the
Azerbaijani Republic, testifies: The tragedy was realized by the
authorities of Azerbaijan , and concretely somebody of those high
standing ( Moukhalifat newspaper, April 28, 1992).

The Armenian forces did their best to escape unnecessary deaths on
the side of the civilian population of Khojalu. The mayor of Khojalu
Elman Mamedov also knew about the corridor: We knew the corridor
was left for the civilian population to leave… (Russkaya misl ,
03.03.1992. Nezavisimaya gazeta, 18.06.1992, Nezavisimaya gazeta,
02.04.1992)

According to the report made by Memorial , nearly 200-300 people
remained in Khojalu, hiding in the basements of the houses. After
the assault they were moved to Stepanakert and were provided with
food and medicines. The Armenian side stated it would agree to let
them in exchange for its hostages.

(Nezavisimaya gazeta, 18.06.1992, Nezavisimaya gazeta, 02.04.1992).

The Armenians told Azerbaijanis about the existence of the
humanitarian corridor also by loudspeakers, although it is possible
the greater part of the Khojalu inhabitants could had not heard the
messages. (Nezavisimaya gazeta, 18.06.1992). Indeed, it is likely,
that not all the inhabitants of Khojalu had heard the warning, but
the masses of people moving in safe directions could have led the
rest as well.

It is worth mentioning, that few days before the start of the
assault the representatives of the Armenian side had repeatedly
told the authorities of Khojalu on the coming offensive using radio
communication, calling them to take out the civilian population from
the settlement immediately. The fact that this information was received
by the Azerbaijani side and sent to Baku is confirmed also by some
publications in Azerbaijani newspapers (Bakinskaya gazeta). (Ibid.)

Internet as a field of information war against Armenia The Azerbaijani
party makes an active use of internet in an information war against
Armenia and NKR. In connection with the fact that internet-mass media
influence becomes more and more dominant in the world, significance of
information net on Artsakh-Karabakh conflict also increases. Besides,
various internet-communities become more and more influential on
public opinion shaping.

The number of anti-Armenian sites on Artsakh-Karabakh issue,
which are mainly created in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani communities
settled in other countries, are increasing year by year. The sites of
anti-Armenian character are focused on denying the Armenian Genocide,
falsifying the Armenian history, the activity of ASALA organization
are also being created by the initiative of Turkey, however, today
Baku is more active than its elder brother.

In particular, to make sure of the big number of Azerbaijani-Turkish
sites, one should only type the words Karabagh or Garabagh in the
internet searching systems (, etc.) and
the system will show up more Azerbaijani and Turkish than Armenian
information on Artsakh-Karabakh. At the same time, if we make a
search by the word Artsakh, the number of Armenian sites found will
prevail, however, one should consider the international community is
almost unfamiliar with the other name of Karabagh-Artsakh, and to get
acquainted with this subject in the internet sites the foreigners
will look for the names Karabakh and Nagorno-Karabakh. In this way
Azerbaijan and Turkey have carried out much more propagandist work to
succeed, which, to some extent has changed the state of affairs in the
information war, and, is not always counteracted by the Armenian party.

The Azerbaijani party has well-developed means for spreading
disinformation.

For the last few years information-analytical portal Day.az has been
dynamically developing under the private support of the state. The
materials have been published in Russian and English by the resources
of the member of Permanent Commission on International Relations
Milli Mejilis and inter-Parliamentary ties of Anar Mamedkhanov.

According to information of different ratings, Day.az is visited by
more than 10 thousand a day. Reference index of edition in internet
is equal to 2200, which, according to Yandex system data, is the 38th
showing among all the Russian-language editions in internet. Thus,
while giving a search in Yandex search system by key words Armenia
news , Day.az takes the second place (the first place is not taken by a
merely Armenian resource either – the project of RIA News News-Armenia
takes that place). Considering that according to statistics most of the
users make use mainly of the first ten showings of searching machine,
Day.az takes the position of one of the main sources of information
on Armenia.

Day.az periodically spreads disinformation in internet. At the same
time they don t use their own information, but make reference to
Azerbaijani information agency APA, which is a permanent provider
of false information on Armenia and Artsakh-Karabakh. Considering
popularity and high rating of Day.az s searching machines, such
materials spread in global net very quickly.

This is an Azerbaijani site in Armenian, where
Baku places agitation materials, news and disinformation, analogical
articles, historical features, audio recordings, photos and even
caricatures on the subject. In the site there are sections about the
Artsakh-Karabakh war, Khojalu events, photoarchives. The site also
contains photos of Artsakh safe haven, today s Aghdam, devastated
settlements of Ghubatli. It is not quite clear how the Azerbaijani
party managed to get new photos of Artsakh s safety haven, that
is the photos of districts which are contiguous to the militarized
and frontlines?

It should also be mentioned the materials of the above mentioned
site are not stated in a literate Armenian. However, these mistakes
are not that much, especially if we consider the Armenian sites
themselves are not that ideal. One should suppose the site is made
by some Azerbaijanis who occurred to live in Armenia in the past and
know the language. A more pessimistic version of recruiting Armenian
specialist is less possible but theoretically is not excluded. However,
the site is made by the Azerbaijani state order.

The Armenian party hasn t got any propagandistic site in Azerbaijani
language. As it is known, there are a few Turkish versions the
Turkish section of the Azg newspaper and the Turkish language site

One should mention the Armenian site may pursuit no serious
propagandistic objectives, as Baku has minimum chances to influence
on the Armenian reader to reconsider his position. Here it is more
important the fact the Azerbaijanis embrace such a broad front creating
sites not only in Russian, English and French languages but also in
Armenian. Such a site has not only propagandistic effect, but also the
effect of physiological attack. The enemy has been obviously carrying
out active work. The Russian version of the site was later created.

The site represents data the territory of the present
Armenia is historically Azerbaijani. Here are separately cited all
the Armenian toponyms which have Azerbaijani-Turkish origin and have
been made Armenian: Amamlu (Spitak), Chomburuk (Chambarak), Aghbulagh
(Lusaghbyur), Nor Bayazet (Gavar), Jalaloghli (Stepanavan), etc. Here
are also brought encyclopedic data about settling these towns and
localities, rise in the number of population, dates the toponyms
changed. In the site is placed the picture of Ararat Mountain as the
symbol of nostalgia of Azerbaijanis for Eastern Armenia.

is concentrated on the subjects genocides of
Azerbaijanis in Khojalu, Armenian terrorism and the Karabakh war. In
his large publication inserted in the site professor Ismail Veliev
condemns the activity and political line of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation Party.

Adil Badirov mentions the information on the strength of army in
Karabakh is false and that it is being spread by journalists bribed
by Armenians and at the same time remembers about the film on the
Russian HTB channel about the NKR defense army. With other falsified
information, the site contains false information about destruction
of Azerbaijani monuments in Armenia and especially in Zangezur and
in the safe haven.

The site has been made by the Azerbaijani community
in London, in particular, by the members of this structure – Tale
and Nijad Heydarovs. This site as well has sections of historical
feature, photos, audio records, integrity of information and
disinformation. Here are mentioned the names of the well-known
Azerbaijani military and cultural men.

The list of Azerbaijani military men of Karabakhi origin is limited
by 5 names, 3 of which lived in the Middle Age, and the other two
were known in the period of Soviet rule Colonel Aslan Vezirov and
General Khalil Mamedov.

In this regard the list of only Armenian marshals surpasses the one
of all the Azerbaijani high-ranking military men taken together.

The site has been made by the state commission engaged
in the issues of the missing prisoners of war. From the technical
standpoint the site has quite a high-level: besides the information
section, it has a section of video spots in multimedia format, music
and clips. From the standpoint of contents, it reflects all the sites
mentioned above. There is a section on Armenian terrorism, it also
presents the UN decisions on Artsakh-Karabakh issue, the decree of
H. Aliyev to celebrate the 31st of March as the day of Azerbaijani
genocide, etc.

Besides the sections mentioned above the site
turns to the personality of Ramil Safarov, presenting him in a
positive light. Here are separately presented prewar photos of
territories controlled by NKR at present, history of Azerbaijani
genocide perpetrated by Armenians in 1918-20. 20% of the Azerbaijani
Republic is still occupied by Armenians.

Nothing and no one is forgotten. This land is calling for its only
patriotic generation us, is mentioned in the site.

The subject of Khojalu genocide is also being touched in the site
Here are inserted photos, documents and data. The site
again touches on the subject of genocide in
Khojalu and other perpetrations of genocide against the Azerbaijani
nation.

The site is an online library, where one
can find information about the activity of H. Aliyev, his speeches
and announcements.

The site was created on May10, 2004 and has sections in 26 languages
(!). In the electronic kitabkhana are presented the speeches of
H. Aliyeb on Karabakh issue in chronological order from 1993 to 2002.

On the site are inserted two video spots on NK subject,
in one of which one can hear Azerbaijani music and in the second one
are presented allegedly Russian hirelings fighting in the NKR on the
side of Armenians.

The list of Azerbaijani sites of anti-Armenian character
is not limited by the ones mentioned above. The sites
, ,
lture.az, ,
http://www.azerbaijanfo undation.org, ,
, , ,
are not all the ones engaged in Azerbaijani
propagandistic attacks. It seems to be expedient to make the strategy
of the RA information security more clear and work out mechanisms of
corresponding counterattacks.

Recognized the genocide

Azerbaijani Mili mejlis (in 2007) has unanimously qualified the tragic
events during fights that took place in Khojalu as genocide against
Azerbaijani nation and called on other countries to name the events
as genocide .

The announcement made by the Azerbaijani Parliament runs, that on
February 26, 1992 Russian military unit 366, headed by Armenian and
Russian commanders have attacked and massacred Khojalu.

"Armenia fails to adeduately answer Azeri propaganda , political
scientist believes Levon Melik Shahnazaryan, a political scientist,
told a press conference the Armenian side does not properly react
to Azeri propaganda. He says no films are shown on Kojalu whereas he
claims that Azeries have shot several films on Khojalu events.

As a participant of freedom fight, Shahnazaryan reminds that Khojalu
residents were killed in Aghdam and not Khojalu. Referring to an
Azeri program, he said an Azeri reporter made a tour in the area and
shot dead bodies. Two days later they showed the dead bodies were
tortured. If Aghdam was under the control of Azerbaijanis and the
reporters could freely make pictures there, it means the Armenian
forces had nothing to do with the crime, the speaker said. Many
things are just made up, which causes harm to the image of our nation,
the political scientist says.

Khojalu victims memorial in Hague

The "Eni Safak" Turkish newspaper on February 4 (2008) announced that
a memorial dedicated to the "Khojalu Massacre" is to be erected in
Hague. The monument is being new designed and it is to be placed in
the Muslim part of the Hague military cemetery.

According to the newspaper, the initiative of erecting the monument
belongs to the Azeri community of the Netherlands, which had been
struggling for the approval of the municipality for almost a year. As
the head of the Azeri community of the Netherlands Ilhan Askin said,
the monument is to commemorate the "Massacre of Khojalu". It is
remarkable that Askin stressed that he is Azeri, not Turk, in despite
of his Turkish second name.

It would be better pleasing the Azeris to erect the statue Ramil
Safarov instead of the memorial of the "victims" of the so-called
"Khojalu massacre". Safarov, murdering an Armenian serviceman, once
again proved the bloodthirsty essence of the Azeri barbarians. The
statue of Safarov would signify the entire horde of Azeris, and not
only the "Khojalu victims"!

With best regards, Ara S. Ashjian An Iraqi Armenian settled in
Yerevan, Armenia