The Embassy of Azerbaijan in Croatia held a conference on the 31st anniversary of the Khojaly genocide

At the conference, officials of the state institutions of the Republic of Croatia, members of the Croatian Parliament, heads of diplomatic corps accredited in Zagreb, representatives of the Military Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan, heads of Croatian higher education institutions, experts and representatives of think tanks operating in the field of international humanitarian law, Azerbaijanis living in Croatia, as well as the public and media representatives participated.

At the event, firstly, the memory of the victims of the Khojaly genocide was commemorated with a minute of silence.

Speaking at the event, Ambassador Anar Imanov gave detailed information about the Khojaly genocide, and on the night of February 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces invaded the city of Khojaly in Azerbaijan with the help of the 366th motorized rifle regiment of the Soviet army and killed a large number of civilians, mainly also stated that they killed children and women. Speaking about the atrocities committed against our people by the armed forces of Armenia, the ambassador brought to the attention of the event participants that our citizens were killed with special ruthlessness and cruelty, and that the captured people were subjected to terrible torture, oppression and insults.

The ambassador said that the policy of ethnic cleansing against our people has become the state policy of Armenia, that in accordance with the international convention on genocide, it should be the duty of every country to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to criminal responsibility, all countries and international structures should take the necessary measures by combining their efforts. to bring the perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide to criminal responsibility

The ambassador said that every year on February 26, various events are held in many countries of the world within the framework of the “Justice for Khojaly” campaign, and necessary measures are taken by Azerbaijan to convey the truth about the Khojaly genocide to the international community and to promote this type of crime at the international level. He expressed his hope that all the criminals who committed the Khojaly genocide will receive the suitable punishment in accordance with law.

Later, the ambassador answered the questions of the event participants.

The Ambassador of Türkiye to Croatia, H.E. Mr. Yavuz Selim Kıran, member of the Croatia-Azerbaijan Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group Member of Croatian Parliament Mr. Veljko Kajtazi, Senior Assistant on special assignments to the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilgar Safarov, the members of the Croatian Institute of Development and International Relations (IRMO) Mr. Kreševan Antun Duymović and Ms. Matea Roknić, Professor of the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb, Ms. Maja Munivrana, Croatian representative of Baku Multiculturalism Center, Mr. Imran Srebrenikovic, and member of the Croatian-Azerbaijani Friendship Society, Ms. Rosana Svetić Čišić  attended the event and made speeches. They noted about international community’s condemnation of the Khojaly genocide crime and the importance of punishing the criminals so that such bloody events do not happen again in the future. The speakers emphasized the importance of drawing conclusions from other genocidal crimes that occurred in addition to the Khojaly genocide, preventing crimes against humanity, and determining the ways of political and legal assessment.

A documentary film depicting the Khojaly genocide was shown at the event.