We, the leaders of religious denominations operating in Azerbaijan, bring this appeal to your attention on the eve of the 33rd anniversary of the Khojaly genocide—one of the most horrific pages in the history of our country and one of the bloodiest tragedies of the 20th century.
The Khojaly genocide is the most atrocious of the war crimes committed against the peaceful Azerbaijani civilian population during Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan. Just days before this massacre—on February 17, 1992—Armenian armed forces carried out a massacre of Azerbaijani civilians in the village of Garadaghly in the Khojavend district of Azerbaijan, continuing their crimes with unprecedented cruelty. On the night of February 25-26, they perpetrated genocide in the city of Khojaly with the participation of the 366th motorized rifle regiment of the former Soviet army.
As a result of continuous massacres involving heavy military equipment, the city of Khojaly was completely destroyed, and 613 Azerbaijanis—including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly people—were brutally killed solely due to their ethnic identity. Eight families were completely annihilated with unimaginable cruelty, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent. The extremist perpetrators beheaded people, amputated limbs, gouged out infants’ eyes, cut open pregnant women’s stomachs, buried people alive, or burned them, desecrated corpses, and even booby-trapped some of them.
Peaceful residents who attempted to flee barefoot in freezing temperatures were not spared; they were pursued and killed by Armenian military formations on roads and in forests. As a result of this crime against humanity, 487 civilians sustained severe injuries and became disabled, while the fate of 150 citizens—including 68 women and 26 children out of 1,275 taken hostage—remains unknown to this day.
With this statement, the heads of Azerbaijan’s religious denominations appeal to global religious leaders, international organizations, parliaments, and the world community regarding the Khojaly genocide.
The statement further emphasizes:
“As a result of Armenia’s decades-long baseless territorial claims and aggressive policies against Azerbaijan, 20% of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territories remained under occupation for nearly 30 years. A policy of ethnic cleansing, physical and moral terror was carried out against the Azerbaijani people. More than one million people were expelled from their ancestral lands in Armenia and the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and were forced to live as refugees and internally displaced persons. Their human rights were grossly violated, hundreds of cities and villages, as well as Azerbaijan’s ancient and rich cultural heritage, were destroyed and plundered.
Starting in the summer of 2020, Armenia, attempting to expand its occupation, launched another military provocation against Azerbaijan, using heavy artillery against civilians and civil infrastructure in various regions of Azerbaijan under the slogan ‘a new war for new territories.’ Continuing its war crimes and acts of vandalism, the aggressive Armenian regime used heavy artillery, ballistic missiles, phosphorus, and cluster bombs to attack our settlements along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and far from the combat zone, including major cities such as Ganja, Barda, Terter, Mingachevir, Gabala, and even areas near the capital, Baku.
In the sacred Patriotic War that began in response to Armenia’s renewed military provocations, Azerbaijan liberated its ancestral lands from 30 years of occupation in accordance with international law and the requirements of UN Security Council Resolutions 822, 853, 874, and 884, restoring its territorial integrity and historical justice within borders recognized by the international community. In September 2023, following a 23-hour anti-terrorist operation, Azerbaijan’s sovereignty was fully restored.”
We want the global community to know that, in addition to the policies of occupation, ethnic cleansing, and genocide, Armenia also committed war crimes and acts of vandalism against Azerbaijan’s religious, cultural, and historical heritage during its 30-year occupation. Mosques and other religious temples, as well as cemeteries in these territories, suffered from Armenian vandalism, and a policy of altering the origins of Russian Orthodox and ancient Albanian Christian churches was carried out.
Of the 67 officially registered mosques in the region before the occupation, 65 were completely destroyed by Armenian extremists. Mosques were turned into barns for animals forbidden in Islam, openly insulting the dignity of the entire Islamic world. Today, foreign visitors coming to our liberated territories on observation missions refer to these areas as the ‘Hiroshima of the Caucasus’ and ‘Ghost City.’
As they retreated from Azerbaijani lands, the occupiers adopted a ‘scorched earth’ tactic, laying thousands of mines. Openly disregarding international law and humanitarian principles, Armenia refuses to hand over maps of minefields or provides deliberately false data. After the war, Armenian religious leaders made revanchist statements, calling on their people not to seek much-needed peace for the region but rather to prepare for a new war. Armenian political and religious circles spread false and slanderous misinformation, appealing to international organizations and religious institutions with baseless accusations that Azerbaijan allegedly destroyed Christian monuments in the liberated territories. These actions are aimed at covering up the actual vandalism committed by Armenia in Karabakh and diverting the world’s attention from the real destruction.
We, the leaders of religious denominations, affirm that in Azerbaijan, state-religion relations are at a high level, and all religions are guaranteed equal rights by the state. Under the direct participation and patronage of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, large-scale revival and restoration efforts are underway in Karabakh today. The rich cultural and historical heritage destroyed and looted by Armenia—including both Muslim and Christian shrines—is being restored. The Azerbaijani state is implementing the Great Return of our compatriots to the liberated lands, including Khojaly, where President Ilham Aliyev recently met with residents returning to the village of Ballydja and reviewed the restoration of individual houses and infrastructure.
We call on international and religious organizations to personally familiarize themselves with Azerbaijan’s unique atmosphere of tolerance and multiculturalism, as well as to visit the liberated territories to see the real situation firsthand, including the consequences of Armenian vandalism against our cultural and religious monuments, and to provide an objective assessment of these inhumane crimes.
It is regrettable that mass acts of violence, extremism, and terrorist crimes in the world often remain without timely legal and political evaluation. This is due to the double standards of some politicians, religious leaders, states, and organizations, as well as dangerous trends of religious and racial discrimination.
The Azerbaijani people will never forget the Khojaly tragedy. This city is being reborn, but historical justice must also be restored. For many years, Azerbaijan has worked purposefully to bring the truth about the Khojaly genocide to the world community. Since 2008, this effort has taken on a global scale within the framework of the international campaign Justice for Khojaly!
Several countries and international organizations have already recognized the mass murder in Khojaly as an act of genocide and have provided it with an international political assessment. We appeal to all progressive humanity not to remain indifferent to the Khojaly genocide and to demand that those responsible for this terrible tragedy be brought to justice.
May the Almighty help us in our righteous endeavors and our pursuit of justice! Amen!
With deep respect and reverence,
Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Office;
Bishop Alexy, Head of the Baku and Azerbaijan Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church;
Milikh Yevdayev, Chairman of the Mountain Jews Community in Azerbaijan;
Robert Mobili, Chairman of the Albanian-Udi Christian Religious Community of Azerbaijan;
Alexander Sharovsky, Head of the European Jews Community in Azerbaijan.
