Khojaly massacre

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Khodjali (Azerbaijan)
Chodjali
Chodjali
Location in Azerbaijan
Khodjali (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic)
Chodjali
Chodjali
Location in the Republic of Artsakh

The Khodjali massacre occurred during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on February 25, 1992 in the city of Khodjali ( Russian Ходжалы Khodschaly , Armenian Խոջալու Khodschalu , since 2001 Իվանյանը Ivanyan ). In the course of the armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region , in which the city is located, over one hundred Azerbaijani civilians - several hundred according to Azerbaijani sources - were killed by Armenian and Russian units.

What happened according to Azerbaijani sources

Photo of killed Azerbaijani civilians.

Azerbaijani actors argue that the Khodjali massacre was an act of deliberate and planned murder of large numbers of Azerbaijani civilians. According to the Azerbaijani government as well as the Russian human rights center Memorial and Human Rights Watch , the massacre was committed by the Armenian armed forces with the support of the Russian 366th motor rifle regiment . The official death toll provided by the Azerbaijani authorities is 613 people, including 106 women and 83 children. According to this information, 476 people were permanently disfigured, while 150 of the total of 1275 hostages are still missing.

In Azerbaijan, too, the opposition has given the Azerbaijani army joint responsibility for the massacre. However, the Aliyev government reacts to such publications with severe censorship and persecution of the authors.

Ambulance in Baku with killed civilians from Khojaly

As early as April 1992, the former President of Azerbaijan, Ayaz Mutalibov , reported in an interview with the Czechoslovak journalist Dana Mazalova that the Khojaly massacre was carried out by the armed units of the Azerbaijani opposition as a means of seizing power. However, in an interview in 2010 Mutalibow denied that he had expressed himself in an interview with Dana Mazalova: “I never said anything like that. I just said that the Popular Front took advantage of the events in Khojaly. Not more". In an interview with the Russian magazine “Megapolis-Ekspress”, the former administration chief of Chodjali, Elmar Mamedow, attributed indirect guilt for the massacre to the Azerbaijani government and the opposition.

Other Azerbaijani voices also doubt the official Azerbaijani version of what happened to the public.

“The city and its residents were deliberately sacrificed for political interests. It was a means of not allowing the Azerbaijani Popular Front to come to power. "

- Arif Yunus, Azerbaijani civil rights activist

However, Arif Yunus put the direct blame for the massacre of the civilian population in Chodjali on the Armenian troops.

"Both the former President Robert Kocharian and the incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan were in charge of the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh at the time, and it was they of all people who made the decision to take Khojali and carry out the massacre of the peaceful population"

- Arif Yunus, Azerbaijani civil rights activist : Vesti.az

“I know those who have the Khojaly tragedy on their conscience very well. And I'm not talking about Armenians here. "

- Jagub Mamedov, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet in 1992 and Transitional President of Azerbaijan

Regarding the Azerbaijani accusation of “ genocide ”, Azerbaijani journalist Ejnulla Fatullaev said that it was inappropriate and immoral to draw analogies between the Holocaust and the events in Khodjali, as the latter has not yet received a final legal assessment. He added that the premeditated murder of prisoners in extermination camps ordered by state policy cannot be compared to civilian casualties in a military operation in battle.

In May 2011 Ejnulla Fatullajew reiterated his statements from 2005 that Azerbaijani fighters and not Armenians were responsible for the killings in Khojaly in 1992. He added that the Azerbaijani government has long tried to use the events in Khojaly to persecute its opponents, such as the first President of Azerbaijan, Ayaz Mutalibov. He is still under criminal investigation for complicity in Chodjali. Fatullaev also mentions Fahmin Hajjev, the head of the Azerbaijani Internal Forces, who spent 11 years in prison because of the events in Khojaly.

Events according to Armenian information

The Armenian side claims that weapons with which Stepanakert was attacked were stored in Khodjali . With the military operation to take the place, this threat was to be ended and the strategically important airport near Chodjali was to be taken.

The Armenian side further claims that the killings took place as part of this military operation and were caused in part by Azerbaijani forces preventing the city from being evacuated. It is also said that the Azerbaijani military, which was among the group of civilians who wanted to flee through the "humanitarian corridor", deliberately provoked exchanges of fire that resulted in victims on both sides. The fact that a targeted provocation from the Azerbaijani side took place was also confirmed by recordings by the Azerbaijani cameraman and journalist Chingis Mustafayev .

The Armenian side also stated that dozens of defenders of the city died in the battle for Khojali and they were not massacred, as the Azerbaijani side claims. The Armenian side also states that most of the refugees were blocked their escape route for political reasons by Azerbaijanis themselves when they tried to escape through the "humanitarian corridor" to the nearby Azerbaijani city of Aghdam . The former head of administration of Chodjali, Elmar Mamedow, confirmed in a 1992 interview with “Megapolis-Ekspress” that a “humanitarian corridor” had been built by the Armenians for the civilian population.

According to Serzh Sargsyan , the former defense minister , prime minister and president of Armenia, the events in Khojaly are greatly exaggerated. At the same time, Sargsyan stated: “Before the events in Khojaly, Azerbaijanis thought they could play with us, they thought that the Armenians would never raise their hand against civilians. We have been able to break these [stereotypes] ”. Sargsyan also alleged that Azerbaijani soldiers interfered with the civilians.

In an interview shortly after the events in Chodjali, then Armenian presidential advisor Gerard J. Libaridian admitted the possibility that the Armenian troops had committed atrocities in Chodjali.

“There was fighting, bystanders were killed. I do not rule out the possibility that the Armenians committed atrocities. The fact is that the population there has been brutalized, dehumanized over the past two years. That has consequences, and people do things that they normally would not do. "

- Gerard J. Libaridian, Advisor to the Armenian President (1991-1994)

The “Humanitarian Corridor” and the lack of evacuation

The military operations were carried out in accordance with the norms of international humanitarian law. Using various means of communication, the Nagorno-Karabakh Army High Command notified the civilian population as well as the military and civil authorities of the settlement that a "humanitarian corridor" was being built to leave the village two months before the start of the military operation. The Azerbaijani side strongly criticized the fact that even after repeated reports, no evacuation of the civilian population was carried out by Azerbaijan.

“On February 25, 1992 at 8:30 p.m. we were informed that the enemy tanks had been brought into combat positions around the city. We informed everyone about this on the radio. I also called Aghdam on February 24th and told them that a captured Armenian fighter had informed us of the impending attack ... There was no reaction. For the transport of the elderly, women and children I asked to send a helicopter. But the help didn't come. "

- Elmar Mamedow, Mayor of Chodjali

“There were four days before the events in Chodjali. A conference of the National Security Council was held on February 22nd in the presence of the President, Prime Minister, the chairman of the KGB (Committee for State Security) and others. During the conference, the decision was made not to evacuate the people of Khojaly, as this would provoke an Armenian invasion. The members of the Security Council did not believe then that the Armenians were planning a massacre. "

- Ramis Fatalijew, chairman of the investigative commission in Khojaly

The Azerbaijani journalist Ejnulla Fatullajew also spoke up on the matter, but was sentenced by an Azerbaijani court to eight and a half years in prison and a fine of US $ 230,000 for his statements. " Reporters Without Borders " condemned this decision severely and justified this with the fact that the judgment was based on no evidence, but was purely politically motivated.

“After getting to know the area, I can say with full conviction that the allegations about the lack of an Armenian humanitarian corridor are completely unfounded. The corridor was indeed there, but the residents were completely prevented from breaking out of the cauldron. I have spoken to hundreds of refugees who have confirmed the existence of a humanitarian corridor and assured me that thanks to this corridor they escaped death and stayed alive. "

- Ejnulla Fatullajew, Azerbaijani journalist

“It is a fact that an organized evacuation of people from Khojaly was not carried out. It was not carried out, although the authorities of Chodjali, the high command and the management of the Azerbaijani fighters knew about it and the humanitarian corridor set up for it was available. "

- Memorial, international human rights organization

Tampered Evidence

The Armenians allowed the Azerbaijani military to return to the area to collect their dead. This enabled the Azerbaijanis to get an overview of the victims among the civilian population and formed the basis for Azerbaijan for later allegations of “cold-blooded, calculated, Armenian atrocities”. One of the few journalists who got under the surface of what Azerbaijani authorities were presenting to the media was Dana Mazalova from Czechoslovakia. She saw two videos of the same collection of Azerbaijani bodies. The first film was recorded on February 29, 1992 and the second on March 2, 1992. She found that the bodies on the second video released by Azerbaijan were retrospectively mutilated and raised the question of this discrepancy in a conversation in April 1992 with former President of Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutalibov. He stated that the Khodjali massacre was "organized" by his Azerbaijani political opposition to force his resignation.

"I doubt that the Armenians would have allowed the Azerbaijanis to collect their dead if the allegations of massacre were true."

- Ayaz Mutalibov, first President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

The Czechoslovak journalist and author Dana Mazalova commented on the matter at a press conference as follows:

“I would particularly like to emphasize that Çingiz Mustafayev was the only cameraman who recorded the people who perished there. In mid-March 1992 he showed me unedited video material in his house in Baku, which he himself had recorded in February 1992 in the area outside the city of Aghdam. But the pictures Mustafayev showed me have nothing in common with the videos and photos that the Azerbaijani side presents to the whole world as his. "

- Dana Mazalova

It is stated that the February 29 footage did not show any naked women and children or scalped men. The recordings that Azerbaijani television presented to the public on March 2 showed the same bodies, however, desecrated and mutilated. It is also criticized that the Azerbaijani side regularly takes pictures of victims of other wars, such as B. the Kosovo war 1998/1999 or Afghanistan and earthquake victims or refugees from other regions deliberately presented as "Azerbaijani victims of the massacre of Chodjali" in order to deceive the public.

Assessment from the international side

Monument in Berlin

The Moscow- based Memorial Human Rights Center wrote in its report that the mass killing of civilians in and around the "free corridor" zone could not be justified under any circumstances and that the actions of the Armenian militia were in gross violation of a number of international human rights conventions. However, the human rights organization further states that by March 28, 1992 over 700 prisoners of war from Chodjali, mostly women and children, had been handed over to the Azerbaijani side. These were people who were arrested both in the settlement and on the way to Aghdam.

Human Rights Watch described the events in the city of Chodjali as “the greatest massacre” in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and stated: “Although it has been widely assumed that 200 Azerbaijanis were murdered, it could be from 500 to 1000 victims speak. [...] We hold the Armenian forces in Karabakh directly responsible for these civil deaths. In fact, neither our report nor Memorial's include any evidence to support the argument that Azerbaijani forces prevented or even shot at Azerbaijani civilians. "Regarding the number of civilians murdered, Human Rights Watch noted that" There is no precise information on the number of victims on the Azerbaijani side because the area was taken under control by the Karabakh Armenian armed forces immediately after the massacre. ”The 1993 Human Rights Watch report assumes at least 161 deaths, although later Reports of at least 200 deaths are mentioned.

On 15 March 2011, adopted the House of Representatives of the US state of Texas , a resolution on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of the events in Khojaly. The resolution said that a large group of Azerbaijani civilians attempting to flee the city were shot at by Armenian and Russian troops, resulting in the largest massacre in the conflict.

In Written Declaration No. 324, a few members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from Albania (2 signatories), Azerbaijan (8 signatories), Turkey (12 signatories) and the United Kingdom (3 signatories) along with one signatory / individual member each from Bulgaria , Luxembourg , Macedonia and Norway drafted the following text: “On February 26, 1992, the Armenians massacred the entire population of Chodjali and completely destroyed the city. (…) The signatories call on the assembly to take the necessary steps to recognize the genocide committed by the Armenians against the Azerbaijani population since the beginning of the 19th century. ”However, the request was rejected by the European Assembly.

On 23 May 2013 adopted by the Senate of Rhode Iceland , a resolution in the given is that Azerbaijanis are responsible for the massacre in Khojaly and demanded that those responsible be brought to Azerbaijan in court. It is also reported that Azerbaijan is continuously manipulating the facts about the events in Khojaly, as well as deceiving and distorting the international community and the Azerbaijani people.

literature

  • Johannes Rau: The Nagorny-Karabakh Conflict (1988-2002). Köster, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-89574-510-3 (also contains images).
  • Svante E. Cornell: Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus . 2001, ISBN 0-7007-1162-7 , pp. 94-96, p. 294.
  • Michael P. Croissant: The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications . 1998, ISBN 0-275-96241-5 , pp. 78-80.
  • Abbas Malek, Anandam P. Kavoori (Eds.): The Global Dynamics of News: Studies in International News Coverage and News Agenda. 1999, ISBN 1-56750-462-0 , pp. 184-187.
  • Thomas De Waal: Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace and War. NYU Press, 2004, ISBN 0-8147-1945-7 . Chapter August 11, 1991 - May 1992: War Breaks Out. Online [1] (in Russian)

Web links

Commons : Khojaly Massacre  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Azerbaijani

Armenian

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ UNHCR Huridoca ( Memento of the original dated February 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.unhchr.ch
  2. ↑ a b reporter-ohne-grenzen.de .
  3. ↑ Dana Mazalova: “Interview with Ajaz Mutalibov I am a humanist at heart”, Nesawisimaja Gazeta , April 2, 1992.
  4. ↑ Referendum As A Gesture Of A Good Will: Peace And War Scenarios For Karabakh ( Memento of the original from December 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.harvard-bssp.org archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 77 kB) (English), May 14, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  5. ^ "Evidence From Azerbaijani Sources" , Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Office .
  6. ↑ Бахрам Батыев: «Я НИКОГДА НЕ ГОВОРИЛ, ЧТО В ХОДЖАЛИНСКОМ ГЕНОЦИДЕ ВИНОВАТЫ АЗЕРБАЙДЖАНЦЫ». (No longer available online.) Vesti.az, May 14, 2010, archived from the original on February 13, 2016 ; August 6, 2015 Retrieved on (Russian, the original text: "... Я не говорил таких слов чешской журналистке Дане Мазаровой Я никогда такого не говорил Я сказал , что НФА воспользовался тем, что произошло в Ходжалы Не более того"). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / vesti.az
  7. ↑ a b Megapolis-Ekspress, Issue No. 17, 1992.
  8. ↑ a b “The February victims near Aghdam are a consequence of criminal actions of Azerbaijan's political elite…” (English), October 29, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  9. ^ Azerbaijani newspaper "Spiegel" (Zerkalo), July, 1992.
  10. ↑ - ( Memento of the original from January 25, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / vesti.az
  11. ↑ The magazine "Feuer" (Ogonyok), N 14-15, 1992.
  12. ↑ European Court of Human Rights: Case of Fatullayev v. Azerbaijan April 22, 2010. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  13. ↑ Daisy Sindelar: "Fatullayev: I'm Still Here - Alive, Working, and Telling the Truth" (English). Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, October 3, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  14. ↑ a b We must not allow genocide . In: Der Spiegel . No. 13 , 1992 ( online ). March 23, 1992. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  15. ↑ Nagorno-Karabakh - Wound of the South Caucasus . Germany radio . November 6, 2010. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  16. ↑ FACT SHEET: EVENTS IN KHOJALY (NKR) AND NEAR AGDAM (AZERBAIJAN) ON FEBRUARY 25–27, 1992 (PDF; 402 kB) .
  17. ↑ a b Urging that those in Azerbaijan who are responsible for organizing and perpetrating the Armenian massacres In Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad and Maragha, as well as the events in Khojalu and other settlements, be brought to justice (PDF; 15 kB). Rhode Island Senate Resolution. May 23, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  18. ^ Committee to Protect Journalists: Chingiz Fuad-ogly Mustafayev.Retrieved February 26, 2012.
  19. ↑ The New York Times abstract ( Memento of the original from March 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / select.nytimes.com
  20. ↑ Time Archive Preview .
  21. ↑ T. de Waal “The Black Garden”, Moscow, 2005, ISBN 5-7516-0528-4 , p. 235 (in Russian).
  22. ↑ "Chodschalu, Genocide Chronicle". Baku 1993, p. 16, Verlag Azerneschr.
  23. ↑ Siyasi uzaqgörənliyin olmaması Xocalı hadisəsinə gətirib çıxırdı (Azerbaijani) September 9, 2009. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  24. ^ "Karabachskij Dnewnik", the newspaper "Reales Azerbaijan" (Realnij Azerbaijan), April, 2005.
  25. ↑ a b Report from the Memorial Human Rights Center.Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  26. ↑ Caroline Cox , John Eibner: Ethnic Cleansing in Progress: War in Nagorno Karabakh  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Toter Link / 550780774789926178-a-1802744773732722657-s-sites.googlegroups.com   Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  27. ↑ COVCAS Bulletin, April 9, 1992, p. 4
  28. ↑ Dana Mazalova: Justice for Khojaly . Novosti-Armenia, press conference (Russian)
  29. ↑ a b ДАНА МАЗАЛОВА: ТО, ЧТО ОНИ ПОКАЗЫВАЮТ, - НЕ ХОДЖАЛУ ( Memento of the original from December 30, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.golosarmenii.am archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Translated: What they show is not Chodjali ), March 13, 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  30. ↑ Thomas de Waal: More War in the Caucasus February 9, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  31. ↑ Xocali.net a target of hacker attacks from Azerbaijan (English), February 27, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  32. ↑ www.memo.ru .
  33. ↑ Quotes from: Human Rights Watch / Helsinki. Azerbaijan: Seven Years of Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. New York. 1994
  34. ↑ - ( Memento of the original from February 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. UNHCR document. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.unhchr.ch
  35. ↑ www.hrw.org/reports .
  36. ↑ Texas Legislature Online - 82 (R) History for HR 535. In: www.capitol.state.tx.us. Retrieved November 18, 2015 .
  37. ↑ Recognition of the genocide perpetrated against the Azeri population by the Armenians. Written Declaration No. 324th European Assembly, May 14, 2001, archived from the original on October 18, 2012 ; accessed on October 2, 2015 .

Coordinates: 39 ° 54 ′ 40 ″  N , 46 ° 47 ′ 21 ″  E