U.S. congresswoman calls for peaceful resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

By AzerNews

The member of the U.S. House of Representatives condemned the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia.

Armenia continues to occupy Khojaly, the second largest town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, Eddie Bernice Johnson said in a statement on Khojaly tragedy, AzerTag reported.

In 1992, the town of Khojaly came under intense fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian armed forces. 613 civilians mostly women and children were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 people were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent.

Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, and the fate of 150 of them remains unknown. Civilians were shot at close range, scalped, and burned alive. Some had their eyes gouged out and others were beheaded.

Johnson, who is a member of the U.S. Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus, further said Armenia ignores four resolutions of UN Security Council demanding withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

"I ask my colleagues to join me in remembering the victims of this tragedy and do all we can to further the Minsk Group's efforts so there is a peaceful resolution and the people of Nagorno-Karabakh can return home," Johnson pointed out.

The legislative bodies of many countries, as well as legislative bodies of about 20 states of the Unites States, including Texas, New-Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Western Virginia, New-Jersey and Tennessee have adopted resolutions recognizing the crime committed by Armenians against the peaceful people in Khojali as a genocide.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s.

Long-standing efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.