Written declaration No. 509 | Doc. 12855 | 26 January 2012

20th anniversary of the Khojaly Massacre

Author(s): several Assembly members

Signatories: Ms Ganira PASHAYEVA, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Deniz BAYKAL, Turkey, SOC ; Ms Gülsün BİLGEHAN, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Paata DAVITAIA, Georgia, EDG ; Mr Şaban DİŞLİ, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Ms Tülin ERKAL KARA, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Ms Sevinj FATALIYEVA, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Ms Sahiba GAFAROVA, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Ms Pelin GÜNDEŞ BAKIR, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Sabir HAJIYEV, Azerbaijan, SOC ; Mr Mike HANCOCK, United Kingdom, ALDE ; Mr Tadeusz IWIŃSKI, Poland, SOC ; Mr Burhan KAYATÜRK, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Haluk KOÇ, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Younal LOUTFI, Bulgaria, ALDE ; Mr Patrick MORIAU, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Fazil MUSTAFA, Azerbaijan, ALDE ; Mr Pasquale NESSA, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Rovshan RZAYEV, Azerbaijan, EPP/CD ; Mr Samad SEYIDOV, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Yanaki STOILOV, Bulgaria, SOC ; Mr Elkhan SULEYMANOV, Azerbaijan, EPP/CD ; Mr Ahmet Kutalmiş TÜRKEŞ, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Tuğrul TÜRKEŞ, Turkey, EDG

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

The Khojaly massacre is one of the most terrible and bloody pages in the history of Azerbaijan as well as in the history of the whole humanity. This merciless and cruel genocide was one of the most dreadful mass terror acts perpetrated in the history of mankind.

On 26 February 2012 it will be 20 years since the Armenian armed forces supported by regular Soviet-Russian troops of the 366th Infantry Regiment captured the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly and ruthlessly massacred its peaceful residents due to their Turkish ethnicity. During the Khojaly massacre, 613 persons including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly were slaughtered, nearly 1000 civilians of various ages became invalid, 8 families were completely annihilated, 130 children lost one parent, and 25 children lost both of them. 1275 civilians were taken hostage; the fate of 150 of them is still unknown. Consequently the town of Khojaly was razed to the ground.

Taking the above-mentioned into consideration, we call on the international community including the Parliamentary Assembly to condemn this inhuman brutal act as well as to give an appropriate legal and political assessment of this crime by the Armenian armed forces against humanity.