An article has been posted on the Austrian website revealing the falsifications of Azerbaijan in Khojaly
March 12, 2020
On March 11, the website of the Austrian APA-OTS agency published an article prepared by the Armenian Embassy in Vienna on the falsifications of Azerbaijan around the events in Khojaly, the pogroms in Baku and Sumgait, as well as on the ongoing policy of Armenophobia in Azerbaijan. Below we present a direct translation of the article without abbreviations and editorial staff.
“Every year these days, Armenians of the whole world honor the memory of innocent Armenians who became victims of the pogroms of Armenians in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait and in the capital Baku.
Anti-Armenian pogroms and ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population became a response of the Azerbaijani authorities to the peaceful realization of the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination in accordance with international norms and legislation of the USSR.
To conceal the atrocities in Sumgait and Baku, as well as falsify the history and essence of the Karabakh conflict, official Baku still continues to disorient the international community, using, inter alia, the events related to Khojaly.
A vivid example of anti-Armenian propaganda from Azerbaijan is a message recently posted by the Azerbaijani Embassy in Austria on the website of the Austrian agency APA-OTS.
The facts are more than eloquent, they really give rise to questions that the Azerbaijani authorities have not yet given a clear answer.
Firstly, regarding the interview of the former President of Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutalibov, who found a place in the message of the Azerbaijani Embassy, it is important to note that it was published in the Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta on April 2, 1992. In it, he blamed the opposition of Azerbaijan for events related to Khujalu, arguing that it was the latter that was beneficial.
An irrefutable fact is also that the tragedy in Khojaly occurred on the territory controlled by the armed associations of the opposition Azerbaijani “Popular Front”, 11-12 km from Khojalu. It is noteworthy that using this tragedy, the Azerbaijani opposition forced President Mutalibov to resign just a few days later.
The author of the above interview, the correspondent of the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Dana Mazalova, on February 17, in an interview with the Armenian news agency Armenpress, confirmed that the publication was fully consistent with the words of the ex-president of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani journalist-researcher Eynulla Fatullayev was sentenced by an Azerbaijani court to imprisonment for questioning the official version of the Azerbaijani authorities about the events in Khojaly. April 22, 2010
The European Court of Human Rights decided that the actions of the Azerbaijani court were declared illegal, after which the court urged the journalist to be released immediately.
During the trial, regarding the events in Khojaly, the court actually rejected the anti-Armenian charges of the Azerbaijani side. It is noteworthy that the Azerbaijanis who dared to speak openly about the responsibility of the Azerbaijani side: were either killed or imprisoned, like journalist Eynulla Fatullayev.
Regarding the events in Khojaly, we consider it necessary to note that the actions of the Nagorno-Karabakh self-defense forces were aimed at neutralizing the positions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, which for months have been used to round-the-clock bombardment of Stepanakert, preventing a humanitarian catastrophe brewing in Stepanakert and its environs, as well as the release of the neighboring neighbor Khojalu village – the only link connecting with the outside world – the airport, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
Azerbaijani Armed Forces turned Khojaly settlement into a firing point for daily shelling of Stepanakert. On February 13, 1992, in violation of international conventions, Azerbaijan began using the BM-21 Grad to bombard Stepanakert’s residential areas, and it became obvious that neutralizing the Khojaly base was an imperative for the physical existence of the Stepanakert population.
We consider it important to emphasize that the NKR defense forces have repeatedly reported on the upcoming hostilities and called on the Azerbaijani side to evacuate the civilian population through a previously opened humanitarian corridor.
Those who used this corridor, including the local authorities of the village of Khojaly, were able to safely reach the territories under the control of the Azerbaijani army. It is also incontrovertible that the Azerbaijani civilian population was provided with security guarantees and the possibility of using the humanitarian corridor, as evidenced by Azerbaijani sources.
It is noteworthy that after the liberation of the village of Khojalu from the militants, more than seven hundred civilians under the control of the Nagorno-Karabakh self-defense forces were subsequently safely transferred to the Azerbaijani side without any conditions.
Unfortunately, instead of creating favorable conditions for the peace process of resolving the conflict, as well as preparing society for peace, the Azerbaijani authorities continue to propagate hatred and intolerance towards Armenians and Armenia.
armenpress.am/rus/news/1008302.html
