Ramiz Fataliev’s interview to radio "Azadlig" (Liberty)

KHOJALY: The chronicle of unseen forgery and falsification
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The interview in full in the Azerbaijani language is here.

And we will bring only an extract concerning the events we are
interested in where he unambiguously announces that the Azerbaijani
authorities were informed about the due assault and consciously
refused to evacuate the population.

Ramiz-mualim, everybody knows these shots very well. And if at that
time nobody doubted your and other photographs’ heroism, after those
events, various opinions were voiced about you as a director of the
commission on investigation of Khojaly events. They began to speak not
about heroism but in some cases even about treachery.

Those were times when everybody was fighting for the power. Everybody
knew among whom the struggle was taking place. Some strived for the
change of power, others wanted to gain power. Some wanted the
commission to take the accusation off the committers of the Khojali
tragedy, others were eager to throw mud at them in order those first
could gain power.

If you remember, on the 14th of May, 1992, I said in the Milli Majlis
that `we haven’t sum up yet, that’s why we cannot say anything. But
now, too, it could be said that the Khojali events took place because
of indifference, the improper placing of the personnel and because of
political short-sightedness. It could be said that for some political
reasons and for the maintenance of the power, they didn’t give Khojaly
up’ Everybody heard that Mutalibov was innocent. Everybody heard, but
in fact it was not true.

Ramiz Fataliev
_____________________
Was born in June, 1946, in Baku. In 1972 finished the course of higher
directors and script-writers. Was the head of the film studio
Azerbaijanfilm after Djafar Djabarli.

That the video-chronicles on 20 January, 1990, when the Soviet forces
committed crimes in Baku are kept in TV archives is his and his
colleagues’ merits. There exist almost 50 films the director and the
script-writer of which he was himself.

4 Day remained before the events in Khojaly. On the 22nd of February,
in the president’s, prime-minister’s, KGB minister’s and others’
presence, the meeting of the National Security Council was held.
Nobody knows so far where the mistake was made, and who made it. At
the meeting a resolution was made not to evacuate the people from
KHOJALY. It was considered that if we evacuate the population, we will
invite Armenians to occupy the settlement. That is, we ourselves
incited Armenians to attack. Even the members of the Security Council
didn’t believe that Armenians could have committed actions of the
kind, similar to genocide. They thought that if the population left
the settlement we ourselves would give Khojaly up.

This political short-sightedness and ignorance of the situation
brought to the words I pronounced from the tribune. There exists a
shorthand record, and it can be verified. The people heard what they
wanted to hear.

When I say people, I mean the Majlis. Because everybody was present
there. Some people were prepared for it, the others were not. My voice
was deafened by them. So, if everything repeats itself today, I will
struggle for it again. And I hope this time there will be some people
who will be willing to hear me.