By Sabina Mammadli
As part of the “Justice for Khojaly!” international awareness campaign, billboards dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the tragedy have been placed in the center of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Azertag has reported.
The purpose of the billboards, which was initiated by the Rada of Azerbaijanis of Ukraine (UAR), is to inform local residents and foreigners about the Khojaly genocide. Billboards are located in the busiest central areas of Kyiv – Victory Avenue, Glibochitska, Sichovich Striltsa, Lesi Ukrainki streets, Kyiv-Borispol highway.
The billboards depict the "Mother's Cry" statue, which represents the Khojaly genocide, as well as the slogan "Justice for Khojaly!"
The billboards will remain in Ukraine until late February.
Armenia committed genocide against the 7,000-person population of Azerbaijan's Khojaly town on February 26, 1992.
A total of 613 peaceful Azerbaijanis were killed, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly people. At the same time, 487 civilians were seriously injured and 1,275 people were taken hostage. The fate of 150 hostages, including 68 women and 26 children, is still unknown. During the genocide, 56 people were killed with special cruelty, people's heads were peeled off, various limbs were cut off, their eyes were removed, and pregnant women's bellies were pierced with bayonets. As a result, eight families were completely destroyed, 25 children lost both parents and 130 children lost one parent.
Relevant documents adopted by the parliaments of Mexico, Pakistan, the Czech Republic, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Honduras, Sudan, Guatemala and Djibouti recognized the Khojaly massacre as an act of genocide. The parliaments of Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Jordan, Slovenia, Scotland, and Paraguay, as well as the executive and legislative bodies of 22 U.S. states have strongly condemned the Khojaly tragedy as a massacre. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation recognized Armenia as an aggressor and the Khojaly tragedy as genocide.
Every year on February 26, the victims of the Khojaly genocide are remembered at the initiative of national leader Heydar Aliyev.
This heinous act was preceded by a slew of others. Armenians set fire to around 20 buildings in the Baghanis-Ayrim village of Gazakh region, killing eight Azerbaijanis. A family of five, including a 39-day-old newborn, were all burnt alive.
Between June and December 1991, Armenian troops murdered 12 and wounded 15 Azerbaijanis in Khojavand region's Garadaghli and Asgaran region's Meshali villages.
Armenian military detachments bombed buses on the Shusha-Jamilli, Aghdam-Khojavand, and Aghdam-Garadaghli routes in August and September of the same year, killing 17 Azerbaijanis and injuring over 90 others.
In October and November 1991, Armenians burned, destroyed, and plundered over 30 settlements in the mountainous area of Karabakh, including Tugh, Imarat-Garvand, Sirkhavand, Meshali, Jamilli, Umudlu, Garadaghli, Karkijahan, and other significant villages.
