The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan (MFA) issued a statement on the 31st anniversary of the Khojaly genocide.

The statement received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of APA reads:

"On February 26, 2023, 31 years have passed since the terrible genocide committed by the Armenian armed forces in Khojaly.

During the decades-long aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, one of the most serious crimes committed against the civilian population and one of the most tragic pages in the history of Azerbaijan was the genocide of the residents of Khojaly city, where more than 7,000 people lived before the conflict.

Within the framework of the Armenian occupation policy, before the Khojaly genocide, the Azerbaijani population was killed with special ruthlessness and massacres were committed against them based on a pre-prepared plan in settlements such as Baganis Ayrim, Garadaghli, Meshali, Karkijahan, Malibeyli and Garadaghli.

The city of Khojaly was completely besieged by the Armenian armed forces since October 1991.

On the night of February 25-26, 1992, following massive artillery strikes, the Armenian armed forces occupied Khojaly with the help of the 366th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the former USSR, which consisted mostly of Armenians.

As a result of the occupation, 5,379 residents of the city were forcibly evicted.

613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people were brutally killed.

1275 people were captured and tortured, 487 people received various degrees of physical injuries.

The fate of 150 people, including 68 women and 26 children, is still unknown.

These actions of the Armenian armed forces tore families apart.

8 families were completely destroyed.

130 children lost one of their parents, and 25 children lost both parents.

The Khojaly genocide, the indiscriminate killing of the civilian population, was a part of the policy of ethnic hatred, racial discrimination and systematic violence carried out by Armenia against Azerbaijan for many years at the state level.

The Khojaly genocide and other crimes committed by Armenia during its aggression against the Republic of Azerbaijan, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, are serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

This includes violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and other international conventions.

Currently, the national legislative bodies of 18 states, as well as 24 states of the United States, as well as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Organization of Turkic States, have adopted numerous resolutions and decisions condemning the massacre of civilians in Khojaly and evaluating it as an act of genocide and a crime against humanity.

In its decision dated April 22, 2010, the European Court of Human Rights reached an important conclusion regarding the crime committed in Khojaly, evaluating the behavior of the perpetrators of atrocities as "war crimes or particularly serious actions equivalent to crimes against humanity".

Under international law, states have an obligation to investigate and prosecute crimes, such as the atrocity committed by the Armenian armed forces in Khojaly.

However, to date, none of those responsible for the crimes committed in Khojaly have been brought to justice by Armenia.

Serzh Sargsyan, the Minister of Defense and former president of Armenia at that time, who admitted his guilt, said in an interview with British journalist Thomas de Waal: "Before Khojaly, Azerbaijanis thought that Armenians were a nation that could not raise a hand against the civilian population.

We broke this stereotype” (Thomas de Waal, Karabakh: Armenia and Azerbaijan on the Paths of Peace and War (New York and London, New York University Press, 2003, page 172).

The purposeful targeting of Azerbaijani civilians continued during the military operations conducted by Armenia on September 27 - November 10, 2020.

Armenia, which is located far from the frontline area where hostilities are taking place, deliberately targeting the civilian population and civil infrastructure of the cities of Azerbaijan such as Ganja, Barda, and Tartar, resorted to the same terrorist tactics as in 1992.

This time, Armenia used modern rocket launchers and cluster munitions and once again illegally targeted and killed the peaceful Azerbaijani population.

The Republic of Azerbaijan believes that continuous measures taken at the national level, as well as within the existing international law, will serve to put an end to impunity and bring to justice those responsible for serious crimes committed during Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan.

The Khojaly genocide should be assessed legally and those who committed this terrible tragedy should receive their deserved punishment.

We engrave the victims of the Khojaly tragedy in our national memory and honor their memory.

Rest in peace!"