[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 27 (Friday, February 18, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E267-E268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRAGEDY IN KHOJALY, AZERBAIJAN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BILL SHUSTER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 17, 2011

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, as the Co-Chairman of the House Azerbaijan 
Caucus, I rise today to bring attention to the tragedy that took place 
in Khojaly, Azerbaijan, a town and townspeople that were destroyed on 
February 26, 1992.
  Sadly, today there is little attention or interest paid to the plight 
of Khojaly outside of Azerbaijan. However, one of our greatest 
strengths as elected officials is the opportunity to bring to light 
truths that are little known and command recognition. As a friend of 
Azerbaijan, I am proud to remind my colleagues that we must never 
forget the tragedy that took place at Khojaly.
  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.
  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 Nagorna-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.''

[[Page E268]]

  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 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 unknown.''
  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.

                          ____________________