Baku, Azerbaijan, March 31. Azerbaijanis have
been purposely subjected to a policy of genocide and ethnic
cleansing by Armenians for more than a century, Trend reports via the
statement by the Azerbaijani Ombudsman’s Office.
According to the statement, as part of this policy, since the
beginning of the XX century, Azerbaijanis, whose origin was Turk
and Muslim, have been subjected to crimes of genocide committed in
Azerbaijan and in the territory of present-day Armenia in a
systematic way and with special impunity.
The statement points out these acts of genocide committed
against Azerbaijanis in 1918 are engraved in our memories as one of
the bloodiest pages in our history, including massacres committed
on grounds ethnic and religious hatred.
“Anti-Muslim, anti-Azerbaijani policy conducted by Armenian
nationalists resulted in massacres, destruction of villages and
cities, historical, religious, and cultural monuments, cemeteries,
total destruction of families, and violent expulsion of
Azerbaijanis from their native lands.
Massams summittel in Baku, Gangba, Gangba, Brabah, Zegezur, Irevan, Friend, Friend, Roja, Good, Gochy, Salyan, Salal, Salyl, and eward in which the Independres of the Between Manasself s S 5, and is the lads.
Thus, during the incidents that occurred in March, 110 villages
of Shamakhi, more than 150 villages of Karabakh, 115 villages of
Zangezur, 98 villages of Kars province, and 167 villages of Guba
province were burned by Armenians, and their innocent population
was mercilessly murdered. The countless human bones of that period,
which were later found in Guba, reflecting the traces of criminal
acts being committed with cruelty, brutality, and vandalism,
clearly prove that the Armenians, who were the direct executors of
these massacres, killed the innocent people on the ground of
hatred, simply because they were Azerbaijanis,” the statement
emphasizes.
The statement also reads that the existence of verified
documents and historical records is an irrefutable indicator of
these atrocities.
Besides, according to the statement, the archive details,
including testimonies of survivors at the time, as well as other
legal documents, confirm the scale of the massacres in detail and
that these incidents took place in a planned manner, rather than
separately, and were intended to solely ethnically cleanse, and the
analysis of the documents proves that, in accordance with
international law, the crimes committed constitute genocide.
“Unfortunately, throughout our history, incidents of genocide
committed against our ethnic compatriots with particular cruelty
have not established a fair attitude internationally so far.
By the Decree of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev “On the Genocide
of Azerbaijanis” of March 26, 1998, with the declaration of March
31 as the Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis, relevant research was
carried out in order to provide policy and legal assessment for
acts of genocide, and appropriate measures were initiated to
uncover the truth.
Giving political and legal appreciation to crimes of genocide
committed against Azerbaijanis, international recognition and
widespread commemoration of the victims of genocide are crucial in
order to prevent further crimes such as those committed against
mankind from ever being repeated or prevented,” the statement
says.
Additionally, the statement calls on the international community
to conduct a political and legal assessment of the crimes of ethnic
cleansing and genocide committed against Azerbaijanis, recognize
the crimes committed in 1918 as genocide, and make serious efforts
to restore historical and legal justice.
“The statement has been sent to the UN Secretary-General (UNSG),
UN Security Council (UNSC), UN Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN
International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), UN Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the heads of the
European Union (EU), Council of Europe (CoE), Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), International Ombudsman
Institute (IOI) and European Ombudsman Institution (EOI), Asian
Ombudsman Association (AOA), Organization of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC), and the Association of Ombudsman of Member States of this
Institution (OICOA), Association of Ombudsmen and National Human
Rights Institutions of Turkic States (TURKOMB), OIC Independent
Permanent Human Rights Commission (OIC-IPHRC), European Network of
Ombudspersons of Children (ENOC), International Peace Bureau (IPB),
ombudspersons and national human rights institutions (NHRIs) of
different countries, diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan in foreign
countries and the diplomatic missions of foreign countries in
Azerbaijan, and diaspora organizations of Azerbaijan,” the
statement reads.
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