[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 34 (Thursday, February 26, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E463-E464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     COMMEMORATING THE 17TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MASSACRE AT KHOJALY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ED WHITFIELD

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 26, 2009

  Mr. WHITFIELD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to solemnly recognize the 
17th anniversary of the massacre at Khojaly, and to honor the lives of 
those lost in this great tragedy.
  On February 26, 1992, the small town of Khojaly, Azerbaijan was 
violently shaken by invading Armenian troops during the Armenian-
Azerbaijan war. Armenian forces surrounded the town and opened fire on 
the innocent inhabitants. During this bloody incursion, nearly 2,000 
civilians--mostly women, children and the elderly--were brutally 
killed, wounded or taken hostage by the Armenian military forces as 
they seized the town. This resulted in the largest massacre of modern 
times in the Caucasus and Caspian Basin.
  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. 
This crime led to the death of 613 civilians; including 106 women, 63 
children and 70 elderly men; 1275 persons were taken hostage, and the 
fate of more than 150 remains unknown.
  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-tom 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.''
  Tragically, during this war, Khojaly was simply the first example of 
this savage cruelty. In fact, the level of brutality and the 
unprecedented atrocities committed at Khojaly set a pattern of 
destruction and ethnic cleansing that Armenian troops would adhere to 
for the

[[Page E464]]

remainder of the war. 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.''
  Altogether, the occupied areas 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.
  Armenia's then-defense minister Serge Sarkisian in an interview with 
British journalist Tomas de Waal openly admitted that ``before Khojaly 
the Azerbaijanis thought that . . . the Armenians were people who could 
not raise their hands against the civilian population. We were able to 
break that [stereotype].''
  Madam Speaker, in recognition of this horrific day, an international 
humanitarian awareness campaign, ``Justice for Khojaly,'' was initiated 
by Mrs. Leyla Aliyeva, and provides much needed information on the 
massacre through its website for interested parties. In the wake of the 
17th anniversary of this massacre, I encourage all of us to familiarize 
ourselves with this dreadful past so it is not repeated in the future. 
I also stand with all Azerbaijani-Americans as they recognize and 
commemorate this solemn day.

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