Lithuanian MPs call on Armenia to free Azerbaijani territories

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

A group of MPs of the Lithuanian Seimas (Parliament) has adopted an appeal on the Khojaly genocide in connection with the 25th anniversary of the massacre, the Azerbaijani Embassy in Lithuania stated on April 27.

They named the occupation of Azerbaijan’s Khojaly city and brutal murder of hundreds of civilians as one of the worst crimes against humanity, and expressed condolences to the Azerbaijani nation in connection with the massacre.

Khojaly, the second largest town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intense fire by Armenia from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian armed forces in 1992.

As many as 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.

The document regards the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as one of the most tragic conflicts of the twentieth century that affected the destiny of millions of Azerbaijanis and recalls that 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories was occupied by the Armenian armed forces.

The members of the Lithuanian Seimas noted with regret that requirements of four resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council demanding immediate withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan hadn’t been implemented.

The document reiterated that Lithuania has always supported Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and called for withdrawal of the occupying forces from Azerbaijan’s occupied territories within the resolutions of the international organizations.

Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims to Azerbaijan. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, but they have not been enforced to this day.