Azerbaijan’s religious communities issue appeal over Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis

  29 March 2019    Read: 1816
 Azerbaijan’s religious communities issue appeal over Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis

hairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade, Archbishop of Baku and Azerbaijan Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church Alexander Ischein and Chairman of the Religious Community of Mountain Jews in Baku Milikh Yevdayev sent an appeal to world religious leaders, parliaments, international organizations in connection with March 31 - the Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis, AzVision.az reports citing the Caucasian Muslims Office.

The appeal notes that the facts of genocide committed in world history, on the basis of national, racial, religious affiliation, remain in the memory of humanity as “black pages”, and are considered one of the biggest sins against humanity.

“Azerbaijanis are one of the nations that faced such a terrible crime as genocide, and the regular nature of such terrible and tragic catastrophes constantly worries the entire Azerbaijani society, including the religious community,” reads the appeal.

“The main goal of the occupation policy and ethnic cleansing committed by Armenian nationalists against our people is the expulsion of Azerbaijanis from their home lands, creation in these territories of the state of “Greater Armenia” invented by Armenian historians and ideologists.”

The appeal also notes that in 1905 and 1918, Armenian extremists committed in Baku, Nakhchivan, Karabakh, Shamakhi, Guba and other regions of Azerbaijan massacres against Azerbaijanis, killed tens of thousands of civilians, destroyed settlements, historical and cultural monuments, mosques, churches and synagogues.

It is noted that the policy of genocide and deportation of Azerbaijanis continued during the Soviet period with the support of Armenian chauvinists and lobbies.

"Armenian nationalists began to carry out aggressive policy and ethnic cleansing policy against the Azerbaijani people in the second half of the 1980s through the pressure of the Armenian lobby on the leading circles of the USSR,” the appeal said.

“Armenian chauvinists, taking advantage of the withdrawal of prominent statesman of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev from the leadership of the Political Bureau, have achieved the merciless exile of over 250,000 Azerbaijanis from Armenia,” the appeal said.

“Twenty percent of our territories - Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts were occupied as a result of large-scale military operations, more than a million Azerbaijanis were expelled from their lands,” the appeal said. “Having committed acts of vandalism in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh territories, the Armenians destroyed our historical, religious and cultural monuments.”

According to the appeal, only after Azerbaijani national leader Heydar Aliyev returned to power, the essence of the genocide and deportation policy carried out by Armenian nationalists over the years was brought to the world community’s attention.

"Unfortunately, the Armenian terrorists have not yet been punished for the crime they committed,” the appeal said. “Armenia has not yet fulfilled the requirements of four resolutions of the UN Security Council on the unconditional and immediate withdrawal of its troops from the territories of the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts.”

“Despite Azerbaijan has appealed to the international organizations for many years, the Khojaly genocide has not been assessed politically and legally at the proper level although the Khojaly tragedy is among such mass murders “against the humanity, like the Holocaust, the genocides in Guernica, Khatyn,” the appeal said.

"We, religious leaders, leaders of religious communities, appeal to the world community, international organizations and urge them to give the political and legal assessment of the genocide committed by Armenian occupiers against the Azerbaijani people," the appeal said.


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