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This is only
a smattering of the reports that were compiled in the March 15, 2001 issue of The
Turkish Times...there were many more, but you'll get the idea.
How easy it is to forget that Armenia was the aggressor in its sneak,
"Pearl Harbor" like attack against Azerbaijan. The latter-day ethnic
cleansing tactics of the Armenians provide an important glimpse of how
Armenians behaved during the final phase of The Ottoman Empire.
These are
followed by the story of an Armenian scholar who does not approve of his
peoples' aggression against Azerbaijan; and a letter by William Schaap that
appeared in The New York Times: In Azerbaijan, Armenia Is the Aggressor...
along with another peek at Armenian aggression, by Sam Weems.
Next, we see
the After-Effects upon the Azerbaijaini refugees in 2003... followed by a
report by Professor Hovannisian making it clear that, no, the Armenians were
the victims. It
is vital that the poor,
helpless Armenians are always perceived as the victims, perpetuated in large
part by their multi-billion dollar genocide industry, so that the Armenians
may more easily get away with the crimes they have been committing. This time,
however, parts of the world are not as easily fooled... Great Britain (bottom
of page) steps forward as the first European nation to commemorate the victims
of Armenian atrocities, in Azerbaijan. Further heartbreaking reports on the
Khodjaly massacres follow.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1) Media Reports
2) Commnetary by Mahmut Ozan
3) Robert Arakelov, Armenian with
Integrity
4) In Azerbaijan, Armenia Is the
Aggressor (William Schaap)
5) 1999 U.N. Report
6) Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1926
7) Did Armenia Admit Her Crimes?
8) Commnetary by Sam Weems
9) Concise Historical Pointers
10) The After-Effects (2003 Report on Azeri
Refugees)
11) Commnetary by Richard Hovannisian
12) U.K. Commemorates Khodjali Massacres
13) More Newspaper Accounts
14) Does the word "Genocide" Apply?
15) 700 Azerbaijani settlements demolished and looted
16) Treatment of Azerbaijani P.O.W.s
17) An American Congressman Sounds Off
18) An Armenian Perpetrator Records a Massacre
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"Those
who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"
Santayana
Armenians not criticized for and not reminded of their
exterminating ways during World Wars I and II certainly "repeated"
themselves... and Western nations that have turned a blind eye to the Armenians' atrocious behavior during the WWI era
and WWII... and continue to turn
a blind eye in contemporary times... bear some of the responsibility. |
March 15, 2001, The Turkish Times
The Ethnic Cleansing of Azeris in Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and the Occupied Azerbajjan
Territories
Newsweek
November 29, 1993
Armenians occupy a quarter of Azerbaijan’s territory, and they’ve displaced almost a
million Azerbaijani civilians. Friends of Armenia’s powerful lobby in Washington,
including the U.S. Government are suddenly a bit aghast. ‘What we see now is a
systematic destruction of every village in their way’ says a senior state department
official. It’s vandalism...
For the past seven months Armenian troops and
tanks have swept
across Azerbaijan — a land grab exceeded only by what the Serbs
have accomplished in Bosnia in the past year... Last month they
pushed south all the way to the Iranian border, driving more
than 60,000 Azerbaijani civilians across the Araks river into
Iran -- and looting and torching vacant villages in their wake.
The Guardian,
2 September 1993
Nowhere To Hide For Azeri Refugees
Armenia is pushing a new wave of displaced people towards Iran.
Jonathan RUGMAN in Kanliq, south-west Azerbaijan, reports
On the main road south through Kubatli province, thousands of men, women and children are
packed into trucks at an Azeri checkpoint waiting for permission to leave. Helicopters
shuttle in and out with the wounded, while a group of women sit wailing at the roadside,
tearing at their bloodstained faces with their fingernails in a frenzy of grief.
A new exodus of refugees is under way towards Azerbaijan’s border with Iran as Armenia
forces continue ignoring United Nations demands that they stop their offensive.
This week the UNHCR began distributing 4,000 tents and 50,000 blankets to those displaced
in the recent hostilities. The organisation said about 250,000 Azeris have been displaced
so far this year and about 1 million since the massacre began in 1988.
The Sunday Times,
March 1,1992
By Thomas Goltz, Agdam,
Azerbaijan
Armenian Soldiers Massacre
Hundreds Of Fleeing
Families
Survivors reported that Armenian soldiers shot and bayoneted more than 450 Azeris, many of
them women and children. Hundreds, possibly thousands, were missing and feared dead.
The attackers killed most of the soldiers and volunteers defending the women and children.
They then turned their guns on the terrified refugees. The few survivors later described
what happened: ‘That’s when the real slaughter began,’ said Azer Hajiev, one of
three soldiers to survive. ‘The Armenians just shot and shot. And then they came in and
started carving up people with their bayonets and knives.’
‘They were shooting, shooting, shooting,’ echoed Rasia Aslanova, who arrived in Agdam
with other women and children who made their way through Armenian lines. She said her
husband, Kayun, and a son-in-law were massacred in front of her. Her daughter was still
missing.
One boy who arrived in Agdam had an ear sliced off.
The survivors said 2000 others, some of whom had fled separately, were still missing in
the gruelling terrain; many could perish from their wounds or the cold.
By late yesterday, 479 deaths had been registered at the morgue in Agdam’s morgue, and
29 bodies had been buried in the cemetery. Of the seven corpses I saw awaiting burial, two
were children and three were women, one shot through the chest at point blank range.
Agdam hospital was a scene of carnage and terror. Doctors said they had 140 patients who
escaped slaughter, most with bullet injuries or deep stab wounds.
Nor were they safe in Agdam. On Friday night rockets fell on the city which has a
population of 150,000, destroying several buildings and killing one person.
BBC1 Morning News
3 March 1992
BBC reporter was live on line and he claimed that he saw more than 100 bodies of Azeri
men, women and children as well as a baby who are shot dead from their heads from a very
short distance.
Channel 4 News 2 March 1992
2 French journalists have seen 32 corpses of men, women and children in civilian clothes.
Many of them shot dead from their heads as close as less than 1 meter.
The Times, 2 March 1992
Corpses Litter Hills In Karabakh
(Anatol Lieven Comes Under
Fire While Flying To Investigate
The Mass Killings Of Refugees By
Armenian Troops)
As we swooped low over the snow-covered hills of Nagorno-Karabagh we saw the scattered
corpses. Apparently, the refugees had been shot down as they ran. An Azerbaijani film of
the places we flew over, shown to journalists afterwards, showed DOZENS OF CORPSES lying
in various parts of the hills.
The Azerbaijanis claim that AS MANY AS 1000 have died in a MASS KILLING of AZERBAIJANIS
fleeing from the town of Khodjaly, seized by Armenians last week. A further 4,000 are
believed to be wounded, frozen to death or missing.
The civilian helicopter’s job was to land in the mountains and pick up bodies at sites
of the mass killings.
The civilian helicopter picked up four corpses, and it was during this and a previous
mission that an Azerbaijani cameraman filmed the several dozen bodies on the hillsides.
Back at the airfield in Agdam, we took a look at the bodies the civilian helicopter had
picked up. Two old men a small girl were covered with blood, their limbs contorted by the
cold and rigor mortis. They had been shot.
Boston Sunday Globe
21 November1993
by Jon Auerbach
Globe Correspondent
CHAKHARLI, Azerbaijan—The truckloads of scared and lost chilthen, the sobbing mothers,
the stench of sickness and the sea of blank faces in this mud-covered refugee camp obscure
the deeper issue of why tens of thousands of Azeris have fled here.
What we see now is a systematic destruction of every village in their way, said one
senior US official. It’s one of the most disgusting things we’ve seen.
It’s vandalism, the US official said. The idea that there is an aggressive intent in a
sound conclusion.
The United Nations estimates that thre are more than 1 million refugees in Azerbaijan,
roughly one seventh of the former Soviet republic’s entire population. Thousands who
fled to neighboring Iran are being slowly repatriated to refugee camps already bursting at
the seams. But because of the Karabakh Armenians’ policy of burning villages, relief
organizations say there is no hope that the Azeris could return home anytime soon.
At Chakharli, about 10 miles from Iran, more than 10,000 refugees are crammed into a
makeshift tent city. Aziz Azizova, 33, arrived in the Iranian run camp about three weeks
ago, after she and her five children were forced to flee their home in the village of
Buik-Merjan.
I left my village with nothing, not even my shoes, she said. You see how our children are
living? Some of them are living right in the mud.
Azizova, like thousands of others, escaped by fleeing across the Arax River into
neighboring Iran. The UN estimates that around 300 Azeris, mainly women and children,
drowned in the river’s currents.
One of the people who did make it across was Samaz Mamedova, a 40-year-old accountant.
Sitting with friends in tent No. 566 on a recent day, Mamedova explained how the Armenians
seized her village in less than a half hour, forcing the entire population toward the
river in a chaotic scramble for survival.
The Age, Melbourne 6 March 1992
By Helen WOMACK -
Agdam, Azerbaijan, Thursday
The exact number of victims is still unclear, but there can be little doubt that Azeri
civilians were massacred by the Armenian Army in the snowy mountains of NagornoKârabakh
last week.
Refugees from the enclave town of Khojaly, sheltering in the Azeri border town of Agdam,
give largely consistent accounts of how Armenians attacked their homes on the night of 25
February, chased those who fled and shot them in the surrounding forests. Yesterday, I saw
75 freshly dug graves in one cemetery in addition to four mutilated corpses we were shown
in the mosque when we arrived in Agdam late on Tuesday. I also saw women and children with
bullet wounds in a makeshift hospital in a string of railway carriages.
Khojaly, an Azeri settlement in the enclave mostly populated by Armenians, had a
population of about 6000. Mr. Rashid Mamedov, Commander of Police in Agdam, said only
about 500 escaped to his town. So where are the rest? Some might have been taken prisoner,
he said, or fled. Many bodies were still lying in the mountains because the Azeris were
short of helicopters to retrieve them. He believed more than 1000 had perished, some of
cold in temperatures as low as minus 10 degrees.
When Azeris saw the Armenians with a convoy of armored personnel carriers, they realised
they could not hope to defend themselves, and fled into the forests. In the small hours,
the massacre started.
Mr. Nasiru, who believes his wife and two children were taken prisoner, repeated what many
other refugees have said - that troops of the former Soviet army helped the Armenians to
attack Khojaly. It is not my opinion, I saw it with my own eyes.
The Washington Post 28 February 1992
Nagorno-Karabagh Victims Buried in Azerbajjani Town
“Refugees claim hundreds died in Armenian Attack...Of seven bodies seen here today, two
were children and three were women, one shot through the chest at what appeared to be
close range. Another 120 refugees being treated at Agdam’s hospital include many with
multiple stab wounds.”
The Washington Times
3 March 1992
Massacre Reports Horrify Azerbajjan
“Azeri officials who returned fn the scene to this town about nine miles away brought
back three dead children, the backsof their heads blown off ..‘Women and children had
been scalped,’ said Assad Faradzev, an aide to Karabagh’s Azeri governor. Azeri
television showed pictures of one truckload of bodies brought to the Azeri town of Agdam,
some with their faces apparently scratched with knives or their eyes gouged out.”
Ms. Churukyan, I have
seen dozens and dozens of documents and color photos of how you Armenians treated
unarmed civilians, men-women, young and old when your fellow Armenians attacked
Azerbaijan. These countless photos prove that no civilized and compassionate man
could have ever done to another human being what your dear Armenians did to
innocent unarmed Azeris. Here is an incomplete list from what I remember of some
of the pictures. They were so revolting to watch that I came close to losing the
content of my stomach more then once.
(a) Old men, old women, and children with their ears cut off before Armenians
massacred them. (I also remember seeing similar photos of where you Armenians cut
off Muslim ears during the World War I years.)
(b) Young teenage boys who had their penis cut off and stuck into their mouth
before they were shot at point blank range in the head. (I have also seen such
photos where Armenians did exactly the same thing during World War I to young
Muslim boys as well in Yerevan, (Erivan) whose population was 45% Muslim at one
time.
(c) Old men and old women who had their throats cut from ear to ear by Armenians.
(I saw such photos of Muslims who were massacred in the same way by your people in
the city of Erzurum during World War I)
(d) Young children-both boys and girls under 5 years of age that had their heads
chopped off by Armenians. (I also remember seeing similar shots where your
ancestors did exactly the same thing to Muslim children during World War I,
claiming at the same time that Turks were committing a
genocide on them.)
To do such horrible things to fellow human beings, generation after generation all
in the name of Jesus Christ was a great sin, I believe. But, turning around and in
conjuration with the lies of Christian missionaries and the perfidious
falsifications of the dishonest male secretary of the U.S. Ambassador in Istanbul,
one Aram Andonian, to claim and pretend that Turks were doing those atrocities on
the Armenians would be doubling the commission of that very sin. Hatred is a
terrible thing, Ms. Churukyan and you Armenians are wallowing in it. It is your
bread and butter. . You would rather write a nasty letter to me, whining, crying,
wringing your hands and moaning about what horrible things the terrible Turks had
done to your rebellious ancestors in 1915 rather than accepting the real truth.
This is plain nonsense and it is time for you Armenians to grow up. Do you plan on
spending the rest of your lives just hating Turks? Can't you find anything more
constructive to do for yourselves?
Professor Mahmut Ozan
Excerpted from TESTIMONIES OF SURVIVORS AND
EYEWITNESSES TO GENOCIDE AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
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Robert
Arakelov, Armenian with Integrity
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|
Robert Arakelov |
Robert Arakelov, the Armenian scholar living in
Baku condemns Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan; the author of two books on the
Armenian occupation, Robert Karoyevi Arakelov was born in 1937, in Baku. You can
learn more by visiting this link.
|
In Azerbaijan, Armenia Is the Aggressor |
The New York Times, June 9,
1994
To the Editor:
“Azerbaijan, Potentially Rich, Is Impoverished by Warfare” (front page, June 2)
unfortunately perpetuates a myth central to the dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia
regarding Nagorno-Karabakh: “In 1923 Stalin made the region of Nagorno-Karabakh part of
Azerbaijan, despite the fact that most of its population was Armenian.” This is not
true.
While the majority of Nagorno-Karabakh’s inhabitants have been ethnic Armenians — at
least since the end of the last Russian-Persian War in 1828 — the territory has been
part of Azerbaijan for hundreds of years. It remained part of Azerbaijan after each
Russian-Persian War in the 18th and 19th centurIes. It remained so during the 1918 British
occupation, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, at the Paris Peace Conference in
1919 (at which the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh signed an agreement accepting Azeri
jurisdictIon) and when the two nations became Soviet Republics in 1920.
What Stalin did in the 1920’s was refuse Armenian requests to transfer Nagorno-Karabakh
from Azerbaijan to Armenia, not the same as giving Armenian territory to Azerbaijan
because Nagorno-Karabakh was never part of Armenia. A United States Committee for Refugees
report notes that Stalin “retained the lines of the map that separated Nagorno-Karabakh
from Armenia” and “appeared to want to maintain the territorial status quo in
Nagorno-Karabakh.”
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is extremely complicated, epitomizing the
contradiction between two principles of international law: self-determination and
territorial integrity. However, it is indisputable that Armenia has violated the
prohibition of the United Nations Charter against “the use of force -against the
territorial integrity... of any state,” for which the Security Council has condemned
Armenia numerous times.
WILLIAM H. SCHAAP
Managing Director
Institute for Media Analysis New York, June 2, 1994
1999
U.N. Secretary-General Report
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Report of the Representative of the UN
Secretary-General, Mr. Francis M. Deng, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human
Rights, resolution 1998/50 (E/CN.4/1999/79/Add.1, 25 January 1999, Original:
English):
"Nagorno-Karabakh is a region to which
both Azerbaijan and Armenia claim historical ties stretching back centuries.
However, the roots of the present conflict can be traced to the early twentieth
century. After the Russian revolution, Azerbaijan and Armenia fought as newly
independent States over Nagorno-Karabakh. The Paris Peace Conference of 1919
recognized Azerbaijan's claim to the territory. After Azerbaijan and Armenia
were incorporated in the Soviet Union, this territorial arrangement for
Nagorno-Karabakh was retained, while Armenia was awarded the district of Zangezur
which had connected Azerbaijan to its westernmost region of Nakhichevan. Thus, on
the resulting map of the region, Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhichevan were enclaves
whose inhabitants were separated from their ethnic kin in the titular republics of
Armenia and Azerbaijan respectively."
" (See also Bill Frelick, Faultlines of
Nationality Conflict: Refugees and Displaced Persons from Armenia and Azerbaijan,
Washington, U.S. Committee for Refugees, March 1994, pp. 7-9.)"
The Azeri writer who contributed the above, in
response to an unfair media report, concluded, "Therefore, Karabakh could never
have been 'arbitrarily split from Armenia,' as the article claims, as it never
belonged to it in the first place."
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Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1926 |
"The Armenian republic of Dashnaks [during its formation in 1918]
had received from Allies the Kars district, the parts of the Erivan guberniia (province)
taken away in 1918. So, the territory of Armenia made up approximately 17,500 English
square miles with population of 1,510,000 people (795,000 Armenians, 575,000 Moslems
[Azerbaijanis], 140,000 of other nationalities). Dashnaks not being satisfied with it laid
claims to the Akhalkalak and Borchaly territories (parts of Georgia), and to Karabakh,
Naxcivan districts and to the southern part of great Elisavetpol guberniia (parts of
Azerbaijan). The attempts of annexing these territories by force (in the period of the
British occupation of Transcaucasus) led to the war with Georgia (December, 1918) and long
bloody struggle with Azerbaijan resulted in reduction of contested regions' population by
10-30%, and a number of settlements were literally wiped off the face of the earth. The
fight was extremely fierce in Karabakh where the Dashnaks settled down firmly. Only
downfall of the Musavat Party and Sovietization of Baku (27 April 1920) saved the Karabakh
Armenians from complete defeat."
"Being proposed (July 1920) to accept Karabakh, Naxcivan and
other areas [of Azerbaijan] loyal to Soviet power, the Yerevan government agreed to start
guerilla actions on the mentioned above territories issuing confidential order to their
Dashnak war leaders. These actions started in September 1920. At the same time Dashnaks
having received weapons from Britain, organized pogroms of Moslem [mainly Azerbaijani]
population in the whole of Kars province and Erevan district reducing Shuragel,
Sharur-Daralagez, Kaguzman, Surmanly, Karagurta, Sary Kamysh regions to ashes. Having
secured such a rear they attacked Olta and Kaguzman acquiring the support of Makin Sardar."
Great Soviet Encyclopedia (GSE), "Armenian Question" First Edition, Volume Three
(ANRIO-ATOKCIL), Moscow, 1926. GSE was the most authoritative and comprehensive Soviet
encyclopedia, an equivalent of of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
zerbaijan.com
Holdwater: Compare above 1918 population
statistics with Armenia's 2001 census, as determined from the CIA Factbook: 97.9%
Armenian, 1.3% Kurd, 0.5% Russian, 0.3% Other.
The Soviet-Armenian historian, Lalaian, presented
his set of numbers, as well.
DID ARMENIA ADMIT
HER CRIMES?
On August 31, 1918, for the first and last time the Armenian
government itself has declared that only in one year Armenians killed 400 thousand
Azerbaijanis, 120 thousand Georgians, 15 thousand Turks and others. In spite of the
fact that government of Armenia has reduced the statistical data, this is enough proof of
the Armenian terror. (From: Rovshan Mustafayev, "Crimes of Armenian terrorist and
bandit formations against the humanity [XIX-XXI centuries]", Baku, 2002. In Russian,
English and French).
IV-
Admit or deny the $1 billion plus dollars the Russians gave Armenia in military
hardware to make a sneak attack on Muslim Azerbaijan? How do you explain the fact
that after your tiny Armenia obtained the more than $1 billion dollars in military
assistance and your pitiful little state stole more than 20% of a neighbor's lands
by armed force you drove more than one million poor Muslims from their homes. You
Armenians call this a "holy war" and didn't pay these Muslims one penny in
compensation. What kind of Christians are you to commit such acts of terror? Christ
would never approve of such conduct and you know it!
Thereafter you Armenians did the following to gain big brother's protection from the
Muslims after your surprise attack stealing their lands: How do you explain what
your kinsmen in Armenia did as to the following?
-Invited the Russians into your tiny state to build two army bases and today they
station their troops there?
-Invited the Russians to come in and build two military air bases. Today there are
24 Russian MIG jet fighter aircraft there?
-Invited the Russians to bring in a large number of their surface to air missile
batteries and they are there today?
-The fact Armenians and Iranians are fronting business firms in Armenia for the
Russians that sell equipment and technology to Iran that can be used to build
weapons of mass destruction in clear violation of United States law?
Since you Armenians love the Russians so much why should American taxpayers (like
me) give your tiny state one more cent of our tax dollars in foreign aid? We have
given you more than $1.5 billion of our dollars over the past eleven years already.
Isn't it past time to let your fellow traveler Russian blood brothers keep up
Armenia? I have the documented proof of this fact from an official United States
congressional study report. What do you say about that?
Samuel Weems, responding
to Armenian Hate
Mail
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A Guestbook Writer Offers
Concise Historical Pointers:
From: Trojan
Date: 10/18/99
Comments
You guys have absolutely no clue about the history of the region. What you say is what you
read in the articles of the same kind of "history-lovers". You guys have never
studied in the world archives, you have never used specific historical methodologies and
techniques, and you simply don't know the subject. Believe me. All you are arguing for is
what you would like it to be, but not what is in reality. History is an exact subject. It
always leaves evidences, which are... guess what? yes, Historical sources.
I will just brief you some facts that are indisputable and are the HISTORY.
- Armenians have not lived in Transcaucasia for the centuries. It is a myth. The first
massive Armenian immigration to the Erivan, Nakhichevan and Karabakh Khanates started in
1828 and it was encouraged by the Russian Tsarist government. The Russian Ambassador to
Iran, Alexander Griboedov, had described the resettlement of the Iranian Armenians in the
above mentioned lands in his memoirs. Even after the first massive arrival of the
Armenians to Transcaucasia, the original Muslem population (mainly Azeris) remained the
majority in Erivan, Karabakh and Nakhichevan.
- There still exists the monument in Nagorno Karabakh which comemorates the arrival of the
first immigrants to Nagorno Karabakh. It was erected in 1978 in Leninavan (Mardakert
region of Nagorno Karabakh) to mark the 150th anniversary of the Armenian immigration.
Until recently, there was a script on the monument, but after the outbreak of the
conflict, Armenians had erased the script.
- All pre-1828 Christian buildings in Nagorno Karabakh are Albanian (don't confuse the
Caucasian Albanians with the European Albanians). Albanians were the only indigineous
population of Nagorno Karabakh, and they were assimilated into the Azeri ethnos in the
Middle Ages, long before the Armenian immigration. Therefore, only the modern Azeris can
be considered to be the descendants of the Caucasian Albanians (the fact accepted by the
world historical scholarship).
- Only after the Crimean War, 1853-55, when the second massive immigration of the
Armenians from Turkey took place, did the Armenians outnumber the Azeris in Transcaucasia.
The purpose of Russia's promotion of the Armenian immigration was to create a Christian
province in the South which was to serve as a stronghold for further Russian penetration
of Iran and the Ottoman Empire.
- Armenian immigration continued in the 1890s after the disastorous rebellion of the
Armenians in Anatolia in 1894-95.
- There was no so-called "Armenian genocide" in 1915. The Ottoman government
ordered the resettlement (even not the deportation, since it was the resettlement within
the same country) of the Armenian population from Eastern Anatolia to Syria because they
started massacres of the Turks and Kurds on the eve of the Russian advance. Armenians in
all 6 villayets were in minority. The goal of the Dashnaktsutsiun leaders was to provoke
unrest in Anatolia, cause sympathy of the Entente and to acquire a statehood after the
defeat of Turkey. More than 2.5 million Turks and Kurds were killed by the Armenian rebels
in 1914-18, while around 600.000 Armenians suffered during the resettlement.
"Genocide" is the state policy of extermination of the nation. There was
obviously no such a policy adopted by the Ottoman government in 1915, and what it ordered
was the reaction to the Armenian violence towards Turkish and Kurdish civilians.
- Stalin never "granted" Karabakh to Azerbaijan. In 1921, the decision was made
to "leave" Karabakh within, and not to "transfer" to, Azerbaijan. If
you look at the Protocol of the Kavbuero Meeting of 5th July, 1921, (every historian
nowadays can order the document from the former Party Archive in Moscow) you will read
exactly the word "leave". So, when you "leave" something somewhere, it
obviously implies that it was there before. Masterly manipulating with the words,
Armenians pursue the aim to justify their territorial claims to Azerbaijan. In addition,
in 1921 Stalin did not have enough power to "grant" territories or to take such
kind of important decisions. He was an ordinary minister (narkom), and his power was very
limited. Contemporary advocates of the Armenian Cause use Stalin's name, known for his
brutal dictatorship, to justify their territorial intentions.
- More than 400 geographical names in modern Armenia were renamed from Turkic to Armenian.
- The first violence in the 1980s took place in late 1987, when the Armenians expelled
4.000 Azeris from Kafan, Masis and Goris. Azeri refugees were the first in the conflict.
They were sent to Sumgait, where only 3 months later the tragedy broke out. It is the
undisputable fact that two ethnic Armenians (Grigorian and Oganov) were arrested in
Sumgait for killing at least 6 Armenians. Armenians are responsible for the first violence
in the conflict, which is the expulsion of the Azeris in 1987.
- The first vicitms in the conflict were Azeris - two guys killed by Armenians few days
before the Sumgait tragedy in Askeran.
- No single bullet had fallen on the Armenian soil since the beginning of the conflict.
The war took place only on the territory of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is the victim, Armenia
is the aggressor.
These are only few facts. :)
THE
AFTER-EFFECTS
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NEW YEAR CHILL FOR AZERI REFUGEES
IWPR'S CAUCASUS REPORTING SERVICE, No. 161, January 9, 2003
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
NEW YEAR CHILL FOR AZERI REFUGEES
Hundreds of thousands of refugees hit hard by
Azerbaijan's bitterest winter weather for decades.
By Leila Amirova in Baku
.....................................
"On December 31 our lights went out and we saw in the New Year in total
darkness," Samaya Mamedova, who lives with other refugee families in the
Yasamal neighbourhood of Baku, told IWPR. Their only entertainment over the festive
period was to hear the president's New Year's speech of congratulations on a radio
brought in by their neighbours - though it's unlikely that many of them were in the
mood to celebrate as temperatures plunged to as a low as minus 15 degrees for the
first time since 1948.
The freezing weather made life difficult for most Azeris, with most
roads closed and frozen power lines caused heating breakdowns, especially in the
south of the country. But hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced
persons (IDPs), mostly victims of the conflict with Armenia in the early 1990s,
found themselves in a much more desperate situation.
According to official statistics, there are at present 779,352 registered refugees
in Azerbaijan. Many of them are still living in makeshift accommodation, such as
tents, train carriages and student hostels. They were almost entirely unprotected
from the snow, which lay almost one metre deep. Clay walls were quickly soaked wet
and roofs made of iron sheeting were no defence against the cold. Repeated power
cuts meant that electricity could not be used for heating. Most refugees cannot
afford to buy firewood and the 30 litres of fuel that the state gives each family
every month lasts less than two weeks.
Mamedova works in a nearby bakery and earns 200,000 manats (about 40 US dollars) a
month. After her husband died at the beginning of the Nagorny Karabakh war ten years
ago, she has had to bring up her children alone. "The pension the state pays
out for the loss of a breadwinner doesn't even cover the cost of food," she
said. "I try and do everything I can to make sure my kids are no different from
other kids, but I don't always
manage. We were offered tickets to a children's (New Year) celebration for 10,000
manats (2 dollars) each, but I've got three kids and that's too expensive for
us."
The bad weather - which has begun to improve in the last few days - led to a
dramatic rise in illnesses in places where refugees are densely packed together.
There were even some cases of frostbite. This IWPR correspondent met Gurban Kerimov
at a tuberculosis clinic in Baku. He had brought his 17-year old daughter from the
town of Barda. "We live in a clay shack and it's just as cold inside the house
as on the street," Kurbanov said. "My daughter was diagnosed as having TB
a month ago, but we couldn't find the money to get her treatment. But in December
her condition got worse, so we had to bring her here to the clinic. I got the money
together collecting money from all over the camp." Kerimov, who mainly supports
his family by growing vegetables, said the winter had already hit him hard.
"It's difficult to get by when you haven't got anything to sell. You have to go
to Baku and find temporary work," he said. According to Farman Abdullayev, head
of the Azerbaijani branch of the World Health Organisation,
around 15,000 people suffer from tuberculosis in Azerbaijan, around half of whom are
refugees. "The main cause is their poor living conditions, stress and continual
under-nourishment," he said.
A United Nations Development Programme report on Azerbaijan, published last November
28, highlights the critical conditions most refugees live in. Their consumption of
dairy products, fruit and vegetables is well below a healthy level, every third
child is under-nourished, almost a quarter of children regularly suffer from
diarrhea, and just under a third have recorded cases of dystrophy while almost half
have anaemia. The UNDP report also points out that there is insufficient medicine
and equipment in the camps to treat these problems and the IDPs cannot afford to buy
them themselves.
Faced with the extra crisis caused by the cold weather, Azerbaijan's State Refugees
Committee says it set up a special emergency headquarters to deal with the new
problems. "The State Committee is doing everything it can. In the last two
weeks, we've replaced burnt out transformers in the Beilagan, Agdam and Geranboi
regions of Azerbaijan. There, the situation is
generally under control," Gabil Abilov, an official with the committee told
IWPR. Abilov conceded, however, that in the Bilyasuvar region in central Azerbaijan,
IDPs remained "in the most difficult position", although he pointed out
that new homes were being built for them. But most displaced families got no special
state help this New Year. A state refugee official
admitted, "No plans were made for additional supply of provisions."
"At New Year, we weren't drinking champagne or cutting
cakes, and our kids have only seen Father Christmas on television," said
Kerimov.
Even international organisations were modest in their charity. Just
over a year ago, several humanitarian organisations and oil companies gave many
refugee families food parcels and held special New Year concerts. This year, the
only real help was a present from the All-China Women's Federation, which sent 470
warm coats to the refugees of the Narimanov region.
Leila Amirova is a freelance journalist based in Baku
|
Historical Memory and Armenian-Azerbaijani Relations |
Dr. Richard G. Hovannisian
The swirl of events and measures and
countermeasures beginning in 1988 led in September 1991 to the declaration of the
separate Republic of Mountainous Karabagh (Artsakh), inclusive of the Shahumian
district. The unilateral declaration, following Azerbaijan’s withdrawal from the
USSR, was justified in conformity with the USSR’s constitutional regulations
according to which any autonomous formation within a republic’s jurisdiction could
determine its own future if the republic opted to secede from the Soviet Union. On
its part, the Baku government responded in November 1991 by dissolving the
Nagorno-Karabakh Oblast (autonomous region) and declaring that it was no different
from any other part of Azerbaijan proper. Following a referendum in December 1991 in
which nearly 100 percent of the more than 82 percent of the registered voters cast
ballots in favor of independence, the legislature formally proclaimed the
independence of the Republic in January 1992. As a reply, the Azerbaijani heavy
artillery and missile launchers unleashed a continuous bombardment from the
commanding heights of Shushi, and for a time it seemed that the inhabitants of the
capital, Stepanakert (Azerbaijani: Khankend), and the surrounding villages were
doomed. But the Armenians showed surprising resilience, and in May they fought their
way up the mountainside and took possession of Shushi. The crisis in Karabagh
contributed to the downfall of Azerbaijan’s last Communist head of state, Ayaz
Mutalibov, and the elevation of Popular Front leader Abulfaz Elchibey, who promised
upon his election in mid-1992 that Azerbaijan would restore control over Shushi and
the rest of Karabagh within two months. The following Azerbaijani offensive was
initially encouraging, as the entire Shahumian district and northern Karabagh were
occupied in a single sweeping operation. Once again, however, Stepanakert held out,
and in 1993 the Armenians regained most of the territory in the north and struck
boldly into the strategic Kelbajar district, which was separating Karabagh from the
eastern border of Armenia along Lake Sevan. Many observers believe that this could
not have been achieved without some outside support.
Oh, so Azerbaijan was the
aggressor in this conflict, after all. Thanks for setting the record straight, Professor Hovannisian.
|
U.K.
GOVERNMENT COMMEMORATES KHODJALY MASSACRE |
Vatan Society
Press Release May 3, 2003
Britain has become the first European state to officially and publicly acknowledge and
commemorate victims of the 1992 massacre at Khodjaly. Some 800 Azerbaijani civilians
were murdered when Armenian forces overran the Azeri- populated town of Khodjaly in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In a letter to Vatan Society of 16 April, Britain's Foreign and
Commonwealth Office stated the following: What happened at Khodjaly stands out as an
appalling tragedy in a list of many that occurred during the course of the war. We extend
our deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and our assurance that their
suffering will not be forgotten.
The Foreign Office stressed that UK is deeply aware of the horrific incidents that took
place during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and of the terrible human cost to both sides . The statement came
in response to Vatan Society's Khodjaly Appeal issued on February 26, 2003 with the aim of
raising the profile and seeking public acknowledgement for the tragic events in Karabagh
11 years ago, as well as to commemorate all civilian
victims of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
The Foreign Office letter stated:
We understand the strength of feeling about the terrible events that occurred and know
that the suffering continues for the families of those who died and for the many thousands
of people displaced from their homes The UK will continue to work for peace, security and
mutual understanding in the region.
The statement also reiterated Britain s support of the OSCE Minsk Group's efforts to
settle the Karabagh dispute. UK called on the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia to
look to the future and build a better relationship between their countries, to ensure that
such atrocities never happen again.
Vatan Society welcomes the Foreign Office statement as an important step towards a
responsible and unbiased international public debate on the Karabagh conflict, necessary
if a peaceful and just settlement to the dispute is to be found.
Newspaper accounts regarding the Khodjaly massacres:
"Crual L'Eveneman" magazine (Paris), March 25, 1992: "The Armenians attacked Khojali district. The whole world
became the witness of the disfigured dead bodies. Azeris speak about thousand
killed people".
"Sunday Times" newspaper (London), March 1, 1992: "Armenian soldiers annihilated the hundred families".
"Financial times" newspaper (London), March 9, 1992: "Armenains shot down the column of refugees, fled to Aghdam.
The Azerbaijani side counted up about 1200 dead bodies:
The cameraman from Lebanon confirmed that the rich
dashnak community of his country sent the weapon and people to Karabakh".
"Times" newspaper (London), March 4, 1992: : "Many people were mutilated, and it was remained only the
head of one little girl"
"Izvestiya" newspaper (Moscow), March 4, 1992: "Camcoder showed the kids with the cut off ears. One old
woman were cut off the half of her face. The men were scalped."
"Financial Times", March 14, 1992: "General
Polyakov said 103 Armenian servicemen from regiment No 366 stayed in Nagorni
Karabakh".
"Le Mond" newspaper (Paris), March 14, 1992: "The foreign journalists in Aghdam saw the women and three
scalped children with the pulled off nails among the killed people. This is not
"Azerbaijani propaganda", but reality"
"Izvestiya" newspaper, March 13, 1992: "Major Leonid Kravets: "I saw about hundred dead bodies on the hill. One little boy
was without head. Everywhere were the dead bodies of women, children, elders
killed with the particular brutality".
"Valer actuel" magazine (Paris), March 14, 1992: "On this 'autonomous region' Armenian armed forces together
with the people who are natives of Near East have the most modern military
equipment, including the helicopters. ASALA has military bases and ammunition
depots in Syria and Lebanon. Armenians annihilated Azerbaijanis of Karabakh,
implemented bloody massacre in more than 100 Moslem villages".
Journalist of British TV company "Funt man news" R. Patrick who visited
the place of tragedy: "Crime in Khojali can not
be justified in public opinion".
"Around 200 bodies were brought into Agdam in
the space of four days. Scores of the corpses bore traces of profanation. Doctors
on a hospital train in Agdam noted no less than four corpses that had been scalped
and one that had been beheaded. ... and one case of live scalping". ("A tragedy whose perpetrators cannot be vindicated. A
report by Memorial, the Moscow-based human rights group, on the massive violations
of human rights committed in the taking of Khojaly on the night of 25/26 February
1992 by armed units", newspaper Svoboda, 12 June 1992.)"
"I had heard a lot about wars, about the cruelty
of the Fascists, but the Armenians were worse, killing five- and six-year-old
children, killing innocent civilians", said a
French journalist, Jean-Yves Junet, who visited the scene of this mass murder of
women, old people, children and defenders of Khojaly. (Khojaly - The Last Day, op.
cit.)
"Some children were found with severed ears; the
skin had been cut from the left side of an elderly woman's face; and men had been
scalped." (In the words of the journalist
Chingiz Mustafaev, Khojaly - The Last Day, Baku, Azerbaijan publishing house,
1992)
"A group of 19 members of the
Nukhiyev family from the village of Gorazly in the Fizuli district of Azerbaijan
was said to have been taken hostage by ethnic Armenian forces at around 5pm on 2
July 1993. They had gathered for a wedding. Seven members have been released in
exchanges since then and one, Vagif Kutais ogly Nukhiyev, is said to have died
five to six months ago. The remaining 11 family members - four women, two men and
five children, all named above - are reported by their relatives to remain held as
hostages on the premises of the hospital in Khankendi (known to the Armenians as
Stepanakert). The five children still detained, all girls, are Sevda (born 1980),
Leyla (born 1983), Matanat (born 1983), Arzu (born 1986) and Narmina (born
1989)." From the Amnesty
International archives
|
Hmmmm... five of the sisters, some now adult women,
have been "detained." Could there be Armenian "harems"?
The above newspaper accounts were
compiled by an Azerbaijani organization called "Society for Democratic Reforms."
A letter by Razi Nurullayev and Ogtay Gulaliyev included the information in a letter
addressed to the Turkish Parliament, in the hopes of that governmental body recognizing
the Khodjaly massacres as a genocide, pleading "This may be a great step in the way
of recognition of the historic facts and making public the Armenian atrocity and
brutality." A little over a year after the writing of this letter, at least Great
Britain paid attention to this outrageous crime against humanity. (Do you think the French
Parliament and U.S. Congress will be in a hurry to create a resolution, recognizing the
Khodjaly massacres? Du-uuu-uhhhh.... the last paragraph is a telling one. This incident is
cut and dried, whereas the "Armenian Genocide" is hotly debated. This incident
is from modern times, whereas the "Armenian Genocide" is nearly a century old.
Wha$$ goin' on?)
Here's the rest of what the letter
had to say:
As known, the brutal holocaust was perpetrated by
Armenian troops and Russia's 366 infantry regiment based in Khankandi, capital city of
Upper Karabakh. Over 30 tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers were involved in the unequal
battle with defenseless and unarmed population. They had been subjected to unseen torture
in the world history.
In the said regiment 103 Armenian national armed from foot to head have participated in
the massacre and later on in the investigation they have acknowledged it. We quote
official statement: "Moral degradation of the officers of regiment No 366 reached
such a level that infantry guards regiment failed to implement itself withdrawal of troops
allegedly because of interference of local residents. Forces of landing division located
in Ganja city was involved in implementation of this operation. However, before commandos
arrived, 103 people of personnel of the regiment, who were mainly Armenians clearly
admitting their (guilt) in the outrage refused to obey the order and remained in Karabakh.
According to criminal agreement of the high command of the regiment and because of
inactivity of other higher commanders who were responsible for troops withdrawal, part of
arms of regiment including armored equipment was transferred to Armenians, factually, to
commit the further crimes, to continue separatist actions against Azerbaijan. This is
clear fact of participation of the regiment No 366 in implementation of Khojali
tragedy!"
2500 inhabitants of Khojaly left behind out of a population of 7 thousand people suffered
from this unseen terror act. The gruesome statistics indicates that 613 people had been
killed, of which 106 were women and 83 children; 1275 taken hostage, 150 went missing; 487
people became disabled and invalid, 76 of whom are teenage boys and girls; 8 families had
been completely destroyed; 25 children had lost both of their parents, 130 children had
lost one of their parents; and 56 people had been killed with extreme cruelty and torture.
Sharing the fate of its population, the town of Khojaly had been completely destroyed as
well....
The damage done to both state and private property estimated 5 billion rubles (according
to the prices for 01.04.92)
This tragedy has been widely covered called genocide in the world press. Actions of
Armenians and their accomplices participated in Khojali tragedy are rough violation of
human rights, cynical neglect of international legal acts - Geneva convention, Universal
declaration of human rights, International pact on civil and political rights,
International pact on economic, social and cultural rights, Declaration on child rights,
Declaration on protection of women and children in emergency and during armed conflicts
and other facts of international law.
Dear Assembly Members!
It is very pity that the Khojaly Genocide has not given true legal and political
estimations by world countries and international organizations. On the contrary some
Parliaments of separate countries give a new birth to 80 years old so-called Armenian
genocide of 1915 by Ottoman Empire ignoring the very new Genocide of late XX century
committed against Azerbaijani people by Armenians. This should be considered as
falsifications and distortion of the historic facts. Society for Democratic Reforms
considers that The Republic of Turkey being fully aware of the said genocide should
express official and political position in the Parliament to open a way to other countries
to know the bare truth and tell it.
Turkish
Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi had this to say, on a visit to Azerbaijan,
regarding the Khodjaly Massacres (here spelled as "Xocali"):
[Reporter] You also said that the Xocali
tragedy would be put up for debate in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Can we
expect the decision on Turkey's recognition of the Xocali tragedy to be taken in the
near future?
[Omer Izgi] The situation faced by Azerbaijani Turks in Xocali is a real genocide
according to international law. Because 613 people were killed there only because
they were Azeris, not because they were at war. They killed them in order to
exterminate them there. International law does not say that if a whole nation or
half of it is destroyed, this is genocide. It says that the intention is what
counts. That's to say if there is a decision to kill some people of a certain
nationality, this is genocide.
What happened in Xocali is real genocide, according to the law. From this point of
view, research is being conducted into the genocide carried out by the Armenians in
Turkey. That is what I said today. My dear Azeri brothers said since you admit that
the tragedy that happened in Xocali at the end of the 20th century was genocide, we
would be happy and appreciate it if you adopted a decision criticizing this genocide
more quickly.
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb
9, 2002
|
Holdwater: I don't know about that. I look at
the definition as how it's perceived by most, in terms of what the Nazis did to the Jews.
The broadly based 1948 U.N. Convention does allow for an extermination attempt "in
whole or in part," but I mostly reject arguments where "numbers don't
matter," and where even one person's death can be called a
"genocide." What I look for is "intent."
Did the orders to wipe out the Azeri
civilians come from the top? That is a critical distinction. For example, during the World
War I era, Armenian revolutionaries were
wiping out Turks wherever they could, and were generally acting in a genocidal fashion... as there
was no official state behind them (before 1918, when Armenia was established), their
actions could be construed as genocide. (The leaders must have been aware of their men's
slaughtering methods, since the slaughtering pattern kept continuing for years... much
more likely, the leaders must have set down these exterminating methods as policy.)
Realistically, we all know if the
latter day Armenian soldiers were let loose upon further undefended Azeri towns, they
would have behaved no less abominably, so it could be argued Khodjaly was part of a
pattern of genocide, as well. However, now the Armenians were directed by their own state.
Then the question becomes, did these mad dogs act on their own accord, or upon the
instructions of their government? That's important, because genocide cannot be applied
upon "loose cannon" troops committing massacres on their own ... otherwise, the
USA could be accused of committing a "genocide," based on the incident of
berserk American soldiers at My Lai ... which would be ridiculous. (The film documentary
FAHRENHEIT 9/11 claims the USA polished off 4 million southeast Asians during that period.
If that's a true statistic, then one might wonder otherwise.)
One has to be very careful with the
application of the word genocide, especially since it has now become one of the most
misused words around. Bernard Lewis
reminds us of how easily "genocide" is thrown around these days, and tells
us why the Ottoman Turks were not guilty of this high crime. There is much more to add to
what he briefly sums up, but another important point to keep in mind is that the massacres
committed upon the Armenians mostly occurred at the hands of their revengeful Moslem
neighbors, reacting to what the Armenians had done to their families. Some of the
irregular gendarmes and corrupt local
officials also committed crimes, but here's the difference: some of these Turks soldiers
were punished DURING THE WAR, twenty by EXECUTION. Moreover, the more professionally-behaving soldiers
assigned to protect the Armenians DEFENDED
the Armenians, and quite a few LOST THEIR LIVES by doing so. These actions totally turn the
possibility that there was a government sponsored extermination policy on its ear... added
to the fact that no hard and reliable evidence has ever been found, tying the Ottoman
government to ordering genocide.
By contrast, you can bet any bottom
dollar no Armenian soldiers during and right after World War I died, defending the lives
of defenseless Turkish villagers... and it sure doesn't sound like any modern Armenian
soldier lifted a bloody finger to help the defenseless Azeri villagers of Khodjali.
Certainly not at the price of their lives.
Let's face it: this has been the
Orthodox recipe for conquest since the Russians tweaked the method into perfection, with
their conquests of Ottoman lands. Go off to purposely slaughter, scaring away the rest of
the citizenry from their homes. The Armenians have become experts at this methodology
since WWI, and the fruits of their labors from recent times are well in evidence; nearly a
million Azeris are still refugees from their own homeland, much to the apathy of the
hypocritical West.
"Armenians
have demolished and looted more than 700 Azerbaijani settlements"
|
TO: Rep. Frank Pallone
US House of Representatives
Washington, D.C.
January 29, 2003
Congressman Pallone:
The publicity given by the
Armenian-American channels to your letters addressed to the President of Azerbaijan
and dated January 8 and January 13 drove me to write you.
I have no illusions that you may
want to consider reality, since I well understand the motivation behind your
indiscriminate advocacy of the "Armenian cause", as well as your
long-standing anti-Azerbaijani position, of which the two letters are yet another
proof. Your bias is also confirmed by the fact that not even once have you mentioned
in all these years the press-documented cases of Armenian massacres on Azerbaijani
civilians, perpetrated throughout decades, like the bloodbath of Khojaly in February
of 1992.
I realize and respect that a member
of Congress can at times do things that are not quite in line with the policy of the
US Administration. Yet, the approaches contained in your letters are outrageous. As
if it is not enough that you’ve shown such a disrespect to the sovereignty of my
nation by visiting portion of the country without consent of its Government, you
have also done so in an attempt to legalize an obvious case of aggressive
separatism.
While advocating the need to
preserve and protect Armenian cultural heritage, you seem to consciously omit the
fact that it was the Armenian side that demolished and looted more than 700
Azerbaijani settlements altogether, destroying a total of 4366 objects of social
infrastructure, 1145 nurseries and kindergartens, 1831 cinemas, 982 libraries, 693
secondary schools, 652 medical units and hospitals, 44 temples and 31 mosques.
State Department’s 2002 Religious
Freedom Report indicates that in the Armenian-occupied territories of Azerbaijan
"those mosques that have not been destroyed are not functioning." Do you
think that those were not precious to my people?
Or is it your position to argue that
the cultural heritage of the Armenians is somehow more valuable to the mankind than
that of Azerbaijanis and, as such, the only one worth protection?
Congressman:
|
The
Pallone politician |
It is not my point to trade
accusations, but I sincerely wish to believe that a US law-maker should rise above
petty considerations of ethnic politics which so far have done nothing but damage to
the chances of the sides in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict to get closer to a fair
and lasting settlement. One has to realize that such a settlement can be reached
only through restoring territorial integrity of my country.
I do not think that your continuous
efforts to distort my Government’s position and attempts to hide Armenia’s
unjustifiable actions behind democratic rhetoric can change anything about the fact
that it is Armenia which committed armed aggression and still occupies, by force of
arms, 20% of Azerbaijan. These hostile actions resulted in almost one million of
refugees and IDPs in my country. This is the reality, which is recognized by the
international community, including Government of the United States.
Sincerely,
Hafiz Pashayev
Ambassador
Republic of Azerbaijan
Washington, D.C.
Holdwater:
Not incidentally, the last name of Frank Pallone, the U.S. Congressman firmly in the
pockets of the Armenian-American lobby and community, rhymes with
"baloney."
|
Treatment of Azerbaijani P.O.W.s |
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH \ HELSINKI
MARCH 2, 1994
PRESIDENT LEVON TER-PETROSSIAN
MARSHAL BAGRAMIAN PROSPECT,26
375019 YEREVAN
BY FAX:52-15-81
DEAR PRESIDENT TER-PETROSSIAN,
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH\HELSINKI (Formerly Helsinki Watch) is the largest human rights
organisation in the United States. We have
closely followed the Armenian massacre of the Azeri people in
Nagorno Karabakh, and have published two reports on violations
of the Geneva Conventions.
I am writing you to express our organisation's deep concern
about the deaths of Azerbaijani prisoners of war in Armenia.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the
following men were shot to death in an Armenian detention camp
in Sritak in late January or early February:
Rustam Ramazan-oglu Agaev, (b. ?), from Masalin District
Elman Mamed-oglu Akhmedov, b. 1961,from Yevlakh District
Elshan Hussein-oglu Akhmedov, b.1974, from Saatlin District
Bakhram AKIF-oglu Giiasov, b. 1972,from Siazan
FAIG Gabil-oglu Guliev, b.1969,from Baku
Enver Asker-oglu Jafarov, b.1972,from Sumgait
Eldar Shahbaba-oglu Mamedov, b.1966,from Baku
Girshad Kniaz-oglu Mamedov, b.1974 from Yevlakh
I thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward
to learning the results of the investigation.
Yours sincerely,
Jeri Laber
Executive Director
TEL(212)972-8400,FAX(212)
972-0905,EMAIL;hrwatchnycigc.apc.org.
1522 K STREET,NW,H910,WASHINGTON,DC 20005-1202,TEL(202)371-6592,
FAX(202)371-0124,EMAIL,hrwatchdc igc apc.org
90 BOROUGH HIGH STREET,LONDON UK SE1 ILL,TEL(71)378-8008,FAX (71)
378-8029, EMAIL:hrwatchuk gn apc org
MOSCOW, RUSSIAN FEDERATION, TEL and FAX(7095)265-4448
[reference]
(The
information below is included strictly for reference purposes; not all claims should be
accepted at face value.)
31 March has been marked as a day of genocide of the
Azerbaijani population at government level since 1998. This calendar embraces the tragic
events which took place in Azerbaijan history over past hundred years being in the
memory of the people. Mass destruction of the Azerbaijanis undergone repression is one
of the tragic pages of world history in the 20th century. The guilty of these tragedies
is Armenian chauvinism reflecting all foul means for realization of a crazy idea -
creation of "The Great Armenia".
The Armenian terrorists as being cruel and crafty executors of their repulsive policy
committed genocide to the Azerbaijanis many times in the history. The genocide realized
by the Armenians to the Azerbaijani population in 1918-1920 years which perpetually
engraved in blood history of our people, not only is one of the most tragic-historical
occurrences of Azerbaijan, but the whole world history. So that in March-April 1918 the
Armenians committed murder of the Azerbaijanis (50 thousand people) in Baku, Shamakhi,
Quba, Mugan and Lankaran and deported 10 thousands of people from their own lands.
Approximately, 30 ths. Azerbaijani were killed severely in Baku city. 58 villages were
ruined and 7 thousand people (1653 women, 965 childen) were destructed in Shamakhi. 122
villages in Quba, 150 in upland part of Karabakh, 115 in Zangezur, 211 in Yerevan and 92
villages in Kars province were destroyed completely and execution of the local
population was realized by disregarding the age and sex. In one of repeated addresses
("Ashkhadavor''/"Amakchi" newspaper, 231, dated 2 November 1919) of
Yerevan Azerbaijanis it was mentioned that in this historical city and surroundings 88
villages had been destructed, 1920 house burned and 131970 people killed.
For the first time these tragedies were politically evaluated by the initiative of
Nationwide Leader of Azerbaijan Haydar Aliyev at the end of the 20th century.
Not only in 1918-1920 years, but still in 1905, 1915 and afterwards in 1948-1953 years
the Azerbaijanis were exiled from their own ethnic-historical places, thousands of
people were exposed to liquidation, hundreds and thousands of the Azerbaijanis'
settlements were obliterated, historical-cultural wealth were ruined and
misappropriated.
New stage of genocide to the Azerbaijanis started since the ends of 1980s. The
Azerbaijanis more than 250 thousand were deported from 185 settlements of Armenia in
1988-1991 years.
As a result of occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and 7 outside administrative regions (20%
of the territory of Azerbaijan) by armed forces of Armenia, people more than 50 thousand
were wounded and crippled. About one million refugees and IDPs are still living in other
regions of the country.
As a result of military aggression citizens of Azerbaijan more than 5000, including 55
children, 326 women and the aged total 409 became missed.
In February 1992 another genocide so called Khojali genocide was committed by Armenian
terrorists to the Azerbaijanis being uncommon in the history. During the occupation of
Khojali region 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women, the aged total 70 were
killed with especial cruelty and torture and hundreds of people were captivated and
taken hostage as well as became missed.
In general as a consequence of the occupation of Azerbaijan territories, more than 900
settlements were plundered, burnt and destroyed, 6 thousand industrial and agricultural
enterprises and other plants were demolished, 150 dwelling houses with gross floor area
more than 9 mln. m2 were destructed, 4366 social infrastructure facilities and 695
medical units were ruined as well. Furthermore, 927 libraries, 464 historical monuments
and museums, more than 100 archaeological monuments, 6 public theatres and concert
studios were racked. More than 40 thousand valuables and rare exhibits were stolen from
the plundered museums.
Till now the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions - 822, 853, 874 and 884 on
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In spite of demands for withdrawal of the Armenian armed
forces from occupied regions of Azerbaijan Republic as envisaged by the resolutions,
these demands have not been implemented yet.
Appeal by the "Khazar" International Scientific Research Center to US
Congressmen, European Union, UN and world community over recognition of act of genocide
committed by Armenians time after time against Azerbaijani people
Over the past two centuries thanks to the auspices of the Russian Empire the Azerbaijani
people were repeatedly exposed to merciless aggressions, murders and plunders, in a
genuine sense of the world, to the physical and moral genocide by Armenians. Yet at the
first half of the 19th century by the treaties of Gulustan (1813) and Turkmanchay (1828)
the deportation of Azeri Turks from our lands and the policy of "ethnic
cleansing" began. As a result of public and underground struggle for realization of
"great Armenia" figment, in 1905-1907 bloody actions against the Azeri Turks
beginning from Baku up to the present Armenia spread all over the cities and countries.
At that period thousands of Azeri Turks were murdered and hundreds of residential areas
were destroyed and ruined. The world community should be familiarized with the following
facts and realize the genuine truth: Genocide means to destroy the generation of a
nation, race, a tribe and a clan. Late in the 19th century and early in the 20th century
were the periods of the most terrible tortures, massacres, refugees and moral genocide
in the Azeri Turks' lives in the territory that is called the present Armenia. The
Armenian-Turkish conflicts and the anti-Turkish mood in 1894-1896 made their outcry in
Azeri Turks' genocide during the Armenian-Moslem war in 1905. In 1914-1916 in the South
of Azerbaijan - in Khoy, Salmas and Dilman regions 150 thousand; in Eastern Anatolia -
in Kars, Sarigamish, Ardahan, Kaghizman and Erzurum regions 200 thousand Azeri Turks
were killed. In 1917-1920 in Baku, Nakhchivan, Guba, Shamakhy and Ganja about 40
thousand Azeri Turks were exposed to genocide. In general, over 2,500,000 Azeri Turks
succumbed to genocide. As a result of the deportation 1,350,000 Azeri Turks were driven
out of their native lands. Hovanes Apresian, who was one of the most active participants
of the genocide committed by the Armenian bandits in 1918-1920, made his confession on
the bloody crime facts they committed in Iravan province, in Sharur-Dereleyez, Surmali,
Kars, Sarigamish and the other regions and in his memoirs titled "There are such
people", which was published by American Ramsden Hardill in the Indianapolis city
of the United States in 1928, he stated how they had tortured the peaceful Azerbaijani
population: "The war began against the Turks within a short period of time turned
into the warfare for complete destruction of the Turks' generation." These
atrocities committed against unarmed, innocent and peaceful Azeri Turks are the obvious
confessions of existence of genocide. A German writer by surname Kulner, who was one of
the witnesses of the Azeri Turks to have been exposed to genocide by Armenians, seven
years later, in 1925 wrote: "Armenians were mainly encroaching the settlements
inhabited by Moslems and killing everyone they came across. They were cutting the people
with swords, piercing them with bayonets, burning the houses, throwing the children into
the burning houses and watching them burning alive. They were putting the three-four-day
babies on the tip of bayonets. A few days after the massacre 87 Moslem bodies were
excavated out of one trench. Their ears and noses were cut off, their abdomens were
pierced and sexual organs were sliced. Armenians were merciless both towards children
and elderly people". A. A. Lalaian wrote: "The Dashnaksutyun Party within the
period of 30 months (from May 28, 1918 till November 29, 1920) of its power destroyed
35% of Armenian and 60% of Turkish population in the Transcaucasus." English
journalist Scotland Liddel, historian S. Suni, famous Richard Pipesin and the others,
who were in Zangazur and Garabagh in 1919, mentioned the facts on the Turkish genocide
in their works and these facts mentioned are, no doubt, familiar to the world community
for ages. As a result of barbarism of General Andronik, the Commander of Armenian
terrorist units, in 1918-1919 in Zangazur region 3,257 men, 2,276 women and 2,196
children were killed; 2,060 men, 794 women and 48 children were wounded. In the western
region of Azerbaijan - in the territory of the present Armenia, at the beginning of the
20th century Azeri Turks used to live in 959 villages out of 1,301. However, at the end
of the same century there were no Azeri Turks in those villages. At the beginning of the
20th century in the territory of present Armenia the number of Azeri Turks was more than
352,000. But today there is no Azeri Turk there. Under the enforcement of warmonger
circles realizing brutally the program of "Armenia without Turks", in
1989-1994 a fictitious Upper Garabagh problem was put forward and 812,554 Azeri Turks
were forcibly driven out of their native lands - motherland Azerbaijan. Every seventh
person of the country's population became a refugee. The Armenian armed forces
destructed and ruined 900 residential areas, 4,366 social objects, 690 schools, 280
nursery schools, 862 clubs, 982 libraries, 500 medical centers, 76 drug-stores, over
400,000 industrial and agricultural enterprises and hundreds of cultural monuments. Ten
thousands of citizens of Azerbaijan were murdered and became disabled as well as were
taken captives and hostages. The Khojaly tragedy, which has got no analogy in the 20th
century, happened on February 26, 1992. The leading mass media and television channels
in the world have covered this tragedy and brought this fact into the world community's
notice. But unfortunately, these undeniable facts of genocide were not given a political
and legal assessment in time. The lands of Azerbaijan were occupied and peaceful and
innocent people were killed, but the world kept silence. Taking into account of all
these terrors, tragedies and calamities, to which the Azerbaijani people were exposed,
and in order not to enable Armenians, who have spread to different regions of the world,
to commit genocide against any people under the slogan of "national fortune"
and "great Armenia", we appeal to the parliaments of all states, peaceful
forces, influential international organizations and call on everyone to confess the
genocide of the Azeri Turks, to recognize the aggressor as it is and to give a political
and legal assessment to the crimes committed.
[Close]
An
American Congressman Sounds Off
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TRAGEDY IN KHOJALY, AZERBAIJAN
(Extensions of Remarks - February 15, 2007)
SPEECH OF
HON. BILL SHUSTER
OF PENNSYLVANIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007
[Page: E361]
Mr. SHUSTER. Madam Speaker, one of our greatest strengths as elected officials is
the opportunity to bring to light truths that are little known and command
recognition. Today, as the Co-chairman of the House Azerbaijan Caucus, I would like
to bring to the attention of this body the tragedy that took place in Khojaly ,
Azerbaijan , a town and townspeople that were destroyed on February 26, 1992.
Fifteen years later, there is little attention or interest paid to the plight of
Khojaly outside of Azerbaijan .
Sadly, Khojaly, a town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan , now under the
control of Armenian forces, was the site of the largest killing of ethnic
Azerbaijani civilians.
According to Human Rights Watch and other international observers, the massacre was
committed by the ethnic Armenian armed forces, reportedly with the help of the
Russian 366th Motor Rifle Regiment. This crime led to the death of 613 civilians;
including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly men; 1,275 persons were taken
hostage, and the fate of more than 150 remains unknown.
As part of the population tried to escape the town of Khojaly , they encountered
violent ambushes and were murdered. According to the Russian organization, Memorial,
200 Azerbaijani corpses were brought from Khojaly to Agdam within four days, and it
was discovered that they were subjected to abuses, torture and mutilation. Human
Rights Watch stated that ``we place direct responsibility for the civilian deaths
with Karabakh Armenian forces.''
At the time, Newsweek Magazine reported: `` Azerbaijan was a charnel house again
last week: a place of mourning refugees and dozens of mangled corpses dragged to a
makeshift morgue behind the mosque. They were ordinary Azerbaijani men, women and
children of Khojaly, a small village in war-torn Nagorno-Karabakh overrun by
Armenian forces on 25-26 February. Many were killed at close range while trying to
flee; some had their faces mutilated, others were scalped.''
Time Magazine stated ``While the details are argued, this much is plain: something
grim and unconscionable happened in the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly two weeks ago.
So far, some 200 dead Azerbaijanis, many of them mutilated, have been transported
out of the town tucked inside the Armenian-dominated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh for
burial in neighboring Azerbaijan . The total number of deaths--the Azerbaijanis
claim 1,324 civilians have been slaughtered, most of them women and children--is
unknown.'' Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
from Albania, Azerbaijan, and the United Kingdom stated in May 2001 in Written
Declaration No. 324 that the ``Armenians massacred the whole population of Khojaly
and fully destroyed the town.''
Khojaly was the first significant Azerbaijani settlement overrun by Armenian forces
in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The forces next overran the Nagorno-Karabakh
districts of Zangilan, Gubadli, Fuzuli, Aghdam, and Kalbajar, as well as the towns
of Shusha and Lachin. Altogether, the occupied territories represent roughly 20
percent of the territory of Azerbaijan . And, altogether roughly one million
Azerbaijanis were evicted from their homes over the course of the
Armenian-Azerbaijan war. On January 25, 2005 the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe overwhelmingly adopted a resolution highlighting that
``considerable parts of Azerbaijan 's territory are still occupied by the Armenian
forces and separatist forces are still in control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.''
Armenian Defense Minister, in an interview with British journalist Tomas de Waal
openly admitted that ``Before Khojaly the Azerbaijanis thought that ..... the
Armenians were people who could not raise their hands against the civilian
population. We were able to break that [stereotype].'' Madam Speaker, the tragedy of
Khojaly was a crime against humanity and I urge Congress to join me in standing with
Azerbaijanis as they commemorate this tragedy.
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An Armenian Perpetrator Records a Massacre |
How have Armenian deceivers dealt with reports of their
massacres, which had, for one brief window of historica time, the attention of the West?
(In contrast to years past, when such large-scale crimes were conducted at will, with few
Westerners present.) The Armenians claimed that it was the AZERIS who mutilated their own!
Can this level of gall and shamelessness be believed??
Fortunately, there are rare times when this "Monolith of Victimhood" allows the
truth to slip through (the following is described as having taken place in
"Khojali." and I am assuming it is referring to the 1992 massacre; as the memoir
also is relatively recent. It could be, however, that the episode may have been from the
1918 period.):
"When I and Khachatur entered the house, our soldiers had nailed a 13-year-old
Turkish child to the window. He was making much noise so Khachatur put mother's cut breast
into his mouth. I skinned his chest and belly. Seven minutes later the child died. As I
used to be a doctor I was humanist and didn't consider myself happy for what I had done to
a 13-year-old Turkish child. But my soul was proud for taking 1percent of vengeance of my
nation. Then Khachatur cut the body into pieces and threw it to a dog of same origin with
Turks. I did the same to three Turkish children in the evening. I did my duty as an
Armenian patriot. Khachatur had sweated much. But I saw struggle of revenge and great
humanism in his and other soldiers' eyes. The next day we went to the church to clear our
souls from what done previous day. But we were able to clear Khojali from slops of 30
thousand people."
Zori Balayan, “Revival of Our Souls,” 1996 , pages 260-262; as excerpted by
Baris Sanli, "Russian Finger Inside Capitol Hill : Armenian Lobby?" (Ocrober 17,
2007.) His outraged comment: "A nation proud of a massacre is joyfully dropping a
note to the history!"
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