Peace agenda and memory of Khojaly are impossible without each other

On the eve of the next anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, opinions began to appear in Armenian public media about the alleged insincerity of the Azerbaijani side and calls for Yerevan to end its peace agenda. They say that Azerbaijanis talk about peace and at the same time promote hatred of Armenians through the theme of Khojaly.

Such thoughts are voiced by the audience of opposition circles, who for some reason believe that for the sake of peace with Armenia, Azerbaijan should forget about all the crimes of the Armenians, stop talking about Khojaly and other tragedies experienced by the Azerbaijani people. And if Baku does not do this, it means that it does not want peace and is simply dragging its feet, preparing for "aggression."

It is strange to hear such a thing from representatives of a people who have been solemnly celebrating the anniversary of the alleged "genocide" for more than a hundred years and at the same time expecting a warm embrace from Turkiye.

The authors of such narratives should take into account that the peace agenda is a huge favor from Azerbaijan to Armenia. This favor was done for the sake of peace in the region and in no way implies forgiveness and erasing the memory of what has been experienced over thirty years. This memory will be passed down from generation to generation, and it is not hate speech. On the contrary, without memory and vigilance, real peace is impossible. This is a story that everyone should know in order to prevent tragedies from happening again.

Attempts to erase memory have already cost the Azerbaijani people very dearly. Thousands of innocent victims, three deportations, the alienation of historical territories, genocide, attempts at assimilation and blurring of identity. The Azerbaijani people had to go through all this. If the foundation of the nation had not been so solid and had not gone so deep into the centuries, the goals of the campaign would have been achieved. But they remained unrealized.

The Karabakh conflict, like the previous tragedies of the Azerbaijani people, is now an integral part of history. The genocide of Azerbaijanis in the territory of present-day Armenia at the beginning of the last century, and the genocide of Azerbaijanis in Baku, Shamakhi, and Guba in March 1918 were torn out of history, but now these pages have been returned to their place. And they will stay there forever. This does not mean that Azerbaijan does not want peace and allegedly promotes hatred. The memory of the Khojaly tragedy does not provoke caveman feelings. The Azerbaijani people are generally not prone to caveman emotions. Even now, when the memory of the occupation is still fresh, there is no hatred of Armenians in Azerbaijani society, although, objectively, they have done everything to deserve it. It is difficult for our neighbors to understand this, because hatred is soldered into their consciousness, and revanchist propaganda is trying very hard to ensure that nothing in this regard changes. This is despite the fact that the Azerbaijanis have not done any harm to the Armenians. They just didn't allow their lands to be taken away from them.

Revanchist circles in Armenia know what's what. Their leaders, in the person of Kocharyan, Sargsyan and other criminals who remain at large, are directly involved in the massacre of the peaceful Azerbaijani population. It is unlikely that they do not sleep at night, tormented by conscience. We doubt that they put candles in the church for the repose of the innocently murdered. But there can be no doubt that the fear of a boomerang haunts you. The boomerang may return in thirty years. Therefore, on the eve of February 26, these circles, as a rule, start moving, trying to throw off responsibility, wash off the atrocities committed and shift the blame onto the Azerbaijani side itself.

This year was no exception, and the sentences handed down to Armenian criminals on the eve of this date have given it a special sound and increased the fear of scoundrels who are still inaccessible to justice. But that's just for now.

"The other day there was another anniversary of the genocide in Garadaghli, tomorrow we will celebrate another anniversary of the genocide in Khojaly. Unfortunately, there have been many such tragic dates in our calendar over the years of conflict, and the expectation that we will erase them for the sake of fraternizing with our neighbors at any cost is not serious. Such thoughts are promoted by bots and the part of the Armenian audience that continues to dream of revenge and the weakening of Azerbaijan. In their opinion, the peace agenda should mean that the Azerbaijani people will forget about everything that happened during the First Karabakh War and occupation. But that's not going to happen.

These tragedies will not be forgotten. This is a part of our history, a tragic part of it. No oblivion. On the contrary, today there is a rethinking of this tragedy, new facts are emerging, and more and more mass graves are being discovered on the liberated lands. Is it possible to forget about it even for the sake of peace? No. Future generations will remember the genocide in Khojaly, the treachery, betrayal and inhumanity of Armenian nationalism.

I am talking about betrayal because the atrocities against peaceful Azerbaijanis were committed by those with whom they shared bread, whom they considered good neighbors. The war criminal Serzh Sargsyan was absolutely right when he said that the Azerbaijanis did not believe that the Armenians would raise their hands against the civilian population. And we were really wrong.

Today, various experts are telling tales in the Armenian media about the alleged guilt of the genocide of the Azerbaijanis themselves. This is an empty topic. Attempts to shift the blame to the Azerbaijani side are absolutely hopeless.

In 2011-2012, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, the Armenian side, with the financial and ideological support of the Karabakh clan, the Diaspora and the church that led Armenia, launched a program of disinformation to the world community. Within the framework of this program, a crazy theory was created on international platforms, in academic and expert circles that the genocide in Khojaly was allegedly committed by the Azerbaijanis themselves. But it didn't work out. We brought the forgers to light and completely exposed this lie. The international campaign "Justice for Khojaly", organized on the initiative of Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva, played a huge role. Those who started this slanderous war lost and received a powerful retaliatory blow, thanks to which the truth about Khojaly was revealed in the world.

There can be no two opinions about who planned and carried out the massacre of Khojaly civilians. Armenian nationalists brutally murdered children, women, and the elderly not only in the forests through which they fled to escape the massacre, but also in the city itself. All the facts of the guilt of the Armenians and the 366th regiment are confirmed by evidence, photographic documents, maps. It has been fully proven that the bloody action was planned and carried out with particular brutality by Armenian gangs and the Russian military.

So those who expect that Azerbaijan will be ready to forget about Khojaly for the sake of peace with Armenia are sorely mistaken."