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On the Khojaly Massacre anniversary day a number of top US congressmen made a speech about tragedy of Khojaly in the US House of Representative

27 February 2010 01:10 (UTC +04:00)

APAâ€™s Washington DC correspondent was able to get the full texts of the Congressmenâ€™s speeches from their offices. The speeches are below:

Congressman Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania: â€œMadam 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 cochairman 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. At the time, the Khojaly tragedy was widely covered by the international media, including the Boston Globe, Washington Post, New York Times, Financial Times, and many other European and Russian news agencies.
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. With a population of approximately 7,000, Khojaly was one of the largest urban settlements of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
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. Human Rights Watch described the Khojaly Massacre as ``the largest massacre to date in the conflict’’ over Nagorno-Karabakh. In a 1993 report, the watchdog group stated ``there are no exact figures for the number of Azeri civilians killed because Karabakh Armenian forces gained control of the area after the massacre’’ and ``while it is widely accepted that 200 Azeris were murdered, as many as 500-1,000 may have died.’’
At the time, Newsweek Magazine reported: â€œAzerbaijan 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 â€œWhile 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 unknownâ€.
Azerbaijan has been a strong strategic partner and friend of the United States. The tragedy of Khojaly was a crime against humanity and I urge my colleagues to join me in standing with Azerbaijanis as they commemorate this tragedy.

Congressman Solomon Ortiz of Texas:
â€œMadam Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to the tragedy that occurred in Khojaly, Azerbaijan on February 26, 1992. Many lives of the Azerbaijan people living in Khojaly were lost and scores of others were destroyed when they were brutally attacked by Armenian forces on February 25-26, 1992.
With a population of 7,000, Khojaly was one of the three largest urban settlements of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
Armenians established the blockade of Khojaly in the fall of 1991, cutting off ground transportation on October 30. Electricity and water supplies were cut off in January 1992. By February 1992, almost all of the Nagorno-Karabakh except Shusha and Khojaly had fallen under control of Armenians backed by Russia’s 366th regiment.
On the night of 25 February 1992, the Armenians and the Russian 366th launched an attack on Khojaly.
The Armenians had declared that a ``free corridor’’ would be provided for civilians to leave Khojaly. However, people were attacked on their way to Aghdam, the nearest Azerbaijani settlement.
The Khojaly tragedy was covered by the foreign media including the Boston Globe, the Washington Times, New York Times, Financial Times, and many other European and Russian news agencies. On November 29, 1993, Newsweek quoted a senior U.S. Government official as saying, ``What we see now is a systematic destruction of every village in their [the Armenians] way. It’s vandalism.’’ Human Rights Watch called the tragedy at the time ``the largest massacre to date in the conflict.’’ The extent of the cruelty of this massacre against women, children and the elderly was unfathomable:
613 people were killed including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly.
8 families were wiped out.
25 children lost both parents.
130 children lost one parent.
487 people were wounded including 76 children.
1,275 people were taken hostage.
Armenia still occupies close to 20 percent of Azerbaijan. Nearly 1 million Azerbaijanis live as refugees in their own country, displaced by Armenian aggression. Resolutions issued by the U.N. Security Council and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, PACE, have ordered Armenia to withdraw from Azerbaijan’s lands.
Azerbaijan is a strong ally of the United States in a very important and very uncertain region of the world. I ask my colleagues to join with me and our Azerbaijani friends in commemorating the tragedy that happened to the people of Khojaly.

Congressman Michael McMahon of New York:
Madam Speaker, I rise to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy, when on February 25-26, 1992, the town of Khojaly in the Nagorno Karabagh region of Azerbaijan was brutally attacked by Armenian forces. The town of Khojaly, which was home to 7,000 people, was completely destroyed; a total of 613 people were killed, of which 106 were women and 83 were children, and 56 of whom are purported to have been killed with extreme cruelty and torture. Additionally, 1,275 were taken hostage, 150 went missing; 487 people became disabled, 76 of whom are teenagers; 8 families were wiped out; 25 children lost both of their parents, and 130 children lost one of their parents.
Sadly, Khojaly, a town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, now under the occupation 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.
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 2 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.
Madam Speaker, this is not the ringing condemnation that the survivors of Khojaly deserve but it is an important first step by an international community that has too long been silent on this issue. Congress should take the next step and I hope my colleagues will join me in standing with Azerbaijanis as they commemorate the tragedy of Khojaly. The world should know and remember.