Day of Khojaly genocide and national mourning in Azerbaijan (26/02)

The Day of National Mourning was established in Azerbaijan in memory of the Khojaly genocide — of the mass murder of residents of the Azerbaijani city of Khojaly by Armenian armed groups during the Karabakh war. Azerbaijani sources call these events the Khojaly tragedy (Azerbaijani). Xocalı faciəsi).

On the night of February 25-26, 1992, Armenian armed forces captured the city of Khojaly. The assault on the city was preceded by massive shelling from artillery and heavy military equipment, which began on the evening of February 25. As a result, a fire broke out in the city, and by five o'clock in the morning on February 26, the city was almost completely engulfed in flames. The population remaining in the city, approximately 2,500 people, was forced to leave their homes to make their way to the town of Agdam — nearest point.

However, the armed forces continued their military operations. As a result, 613 people were killed: of these, children — 63; women — 106; elderly — 70 people. 8 families were completely destroyed. — 487 people were injured, including — 76 children. Missing — 150 people.

The reason for this tragedy was the events when on January 6, 1992, the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic declared independence, and the subsequent forceful division of the disputed territories.

It must be said that the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides have different assessments of the events of this conflict. Official Baku calls the incident one of the terrible tragedies of the 20th century and clearly classifies it as genocide and a war crime. Senior officials from the Armenian side, without denying that crimes against the civilian population could have taken place during the capture of Khojaly, classify them as wartime realities.

Monuments to the victims of the Khojaly tragedy were erected in Baku and other cities of Azerbaijan.

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