The pain lingers for an entire nation as Azerbaijan observes the 31st anniversary of a tragedy, the worst of its kind in the post-Soviet era. The mass killing of Azerbaijani civilians by Armenian forces in Khojaly remains alive in the country’s memory, which has long been at odds with the neighboring country.

On Sunday, an official commemoration ceremony was held in Baku. People gathered around the Khojal Massacre Memorial, also known as the "Ana Harayı" ("Shout of Mother") monument, for depicting a mother with her dead child in her arms. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and other dignitaries attended the ceremony. In addition, people bearing Azerbaijan flags and flowers flocked to the memorial. Among the visitors were survivors of the massacre.

To mark the event, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling the 1992 Khojaly genocide one of the "gravest crimes" committed against the civilian population during the decadeslong aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan. The ministry said the Khojaly tragedy, the "indiscriminate killing" of the civilian population, is only a part of the policy of "ethnic hatred, racial discrimination and systematic violence" implemented by Armenia against Azerbaijan for many years at the state level. The statement also published a list of the international documents violated by Armenia during its aggression against Azerbaijan. The ministry said that it is possible to open an international investigation against Armenia under international law, adding that none of those involved in the massacre were brought to justice in Armenia. The ministry recalled incriminating remarks by Armenia’s then-Defense Minister and ex-President Serzh Sargsyan, who told British journalist Thomas de Waal that "before Khojaly, the Azerbaijanis thought that ... the Armenians were people who could not raise their hand against the civilian population. We were able to break that (stereotype)."

According to the Justice for Khojaly project, at the end of 1987, the Armenian Soviet Republic openly laid claim to the territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijani Soviet Republic. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in Oct. 1991, Khojaly, a district located in the mountainous Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, home to some 7,000 people, was surrounded by Armenia’s armed forces. On the night of Feb. 25-26, following a massive artillery bombardment, Armenia’s military and the 366th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the Commonwealth of Independent States occupied Khojaly. According to the Justice for Khojaly, of 7,000 Khojaly residents, 5,379 were deported, and 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 elderly citizens, were murdered by the Armenian occupation forces. Besides, 1,275 residents were taken hostage and tortured, and 487 were injured, while the fate of 150 captives, including 68 women and 26 children, remains unknown. The actions of the Armenian armed forces tore families apart. Eight families were completely wiped out, 130 children lost one parent, and 25 lost both parents.

Commemorations

The parliaments of 18 countries, 24 U.S. states, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) adopted some documents condemning the mass killing of civilians in Khojaly and characterizing it as a "crime against humanity and an act of genocide." In addition, memorials dedicated to the Khojaly tragedy have been erected in several cities of Azerbaijan, including the capital, Baku, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany, Israel, Mexico and Türkiye.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry expects that measures taken at the national level, effective from the point of view of international law, will serve to end impunity and bring to justice those responsible for "serious crimes committed during Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan."

"There has to be a legal assessment of the Khojaly genocide, and those who committed this tragedy should receive its proper punishment.

"We engrave the victims of the Khojaly tragedy in our national memory and honor their reminiscence. Rest in Peace!" it said.

The massacre was a "crime against humanity," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Saturday. "We condemn the murder of our Azerbaijani brothers in Khojaly 31 years ago, and we once again commemorate our martyrs with mercy," Çavuşoğlu said in a tweet on the 31st anniversary of the massacre. "We have not forgotten the crime against humanity committed in Khojaly; we will not forget," he said, emphasizing that Türkiye shares Azerbaijan’s pain.

In a separate statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the fate of those who disappeared after the massacre is still unknown. "We still feel the pain of our Azerbaijani brothers, who were murdered in Khojaly 31 years ago, in our hearts. We condemn this crime against humanity, which has gone down in history as a black mark," the ministry said.

Sabina Aliyeva, the commissioner for human rights (ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, said in a statement before the anniversary addressed to the United Nations and other international organizations that, "The Khojaly genocide was one of the bloodiest pages of the policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide regularly carried out by Armenian nationalists against Azerbaijanis."

"On the night of Feb. 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces launched an armed attack with the support of the 366th motorized rifle regiment of the Soviet army stationed in the city of Khankendi with the aim of mass killing the peaceful population of the city of Khojaly. With a population of 7,000 people, this city was razed to the ground, and its inhabitants were subjected to genocide. The main goal of the Armenian chauvinists in committing this genocide was also to wipe out Khojaly, a city with historical and cultural monuments belonging to the ancient times of Azerbaijan, in addition to brutally killing the population," Aliyeva said.

"Neglecting the norms and principles of international law, including international humanitarian law, the most ruthless killing methods were used against the civilian population, especially the older people, women and children. The rights and freedoms enshrined in the existing international documents in the field of protection of human rights and freedoms, including the right to life, have been grossly and massively violated as a result of the Khojaly genocide based on ethnic cleansing and hatred and other war crimes committed by the aggressor Armenia on our lands," Aliyeva said, noting that the genocide was a severe violation of several international conventions, from Geneva Conventions of 1949 to The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

"For the first time, at the initiative of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, the country’s Parliament gave a political and legal assessment to the Khojaly genocide; Feb. 26 was declared 'Khojaly Genocide Day,' and actions were launched for bringing the committed crime to the attention of the international community and the culprits to justice. Furthermore, the international campaign 'Justice for Khojaly' conducted by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation for bringing the truth about Khojaly to the attention of the international community plays a vital role in recognition of the Khojaly genocide by the world community and giving legal and political assessment to it," she said.

"At present, Azerbaijan continues to take all necessary steps to convey the information to the world community about the terrorist policy continuously implemented by Armenia, especially the mines buried in our lands liberated from occupation as a result of which civilians have been killed or seriously injured," she added.

"To restore justice and prevent the recurrence of such acts of genocide against humanity, the world countries and international organizations should give international political and legal assessment to the Khojaly genocide and other war crimes committed by Armenia, the perpetrators of the committed genocide must be held accountable before the international court and decisive measures must be taken in this direction," she concluded.