Making a keynote speech at the event, Azerbaijani Ambassador to the U.S. Elin Suleymanov expressed gratitude to all guests, including the U.S. Congressmen for demonstrating solidarity with the Azerbaijani people.
The ambassador characterized the Khojaly massacre as the most tragic event of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, noting that the commemoration of the massacre victims is not aimed to promote the revenge but to remind the importance of ensuring a lasting peace as soon as possible. Suleymanov expressed the readiness of Azerbaijan for beginning negotiations on a comprehensive peace agreement in the near future. He said that the commemoration of the Khojaly tragedy can prevent future massacres, adding that if this massacre and the occupation that Azerbaijan faced, were properly paid attention previously, other tragic events in our region as well as the causalities in Ukraine would be possible to prevent.
Welcoming the Azerbaijani MPs who are in the U.S. to attend the commemorative events on the Khojaly massacre, the ambassador mentioned that they arrived in Washington following the ceremony in Pennsylvania and on the same day, House of Representatives of the State adopted a resolution on the Khojaly massacre.
Co-Chair of the US-Azerbaijani Friendship Group in the Congress, Bill Shuster said that he feels honored to chair the group. He described Azerbaijan as a strategic partner for the U.S. and underlined the importance of bilateral relations.
The congressman expressed gratitude with Azerbaijan’s being among the countries which supported the U.S. following the September 11 terrorist attack. He said that by attending the event at the Congress, he wanted to commemorate those who were killed in Khojaly and sharing the Azerbaijani Ambassador’s views, wished peace to be established in the region.
Addressing the event, Pete Olson from Texas said the Azerbaijanis, who managed to escape from Khojaly 23 years ago and sought to asylum, were besieged and killed. He added that a total of 613 civilians were killed by the Armenians, referring to the statement of incumbent Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan “Before Khojaly, the Azerbaijanis thought that the Armenians were people who could not raise their hands against the civilian population. We were able to break that”. The congressman called on the other participants not to forget the victims of the Khojaly genocide.
In his speech, Xavier Becerra expressed support for Azerbaijan’s position to achieve a lasting resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Congressmen Henry Cuellar, Ryan Zinke, Paul Gosar, Al Green and Ted Deutch spoke of US-Azerbaijan partnership, expressing their support for the further enhancement of relations between the two countries.
Henry Cuellar said hundreds of civilians were killed in the town of Khojaly. Congresswoman Yvette Clarke expressed solidarity with the Azerbaijani people on the occasion of the anniversary of the Khojaly massacre, noting that such tragedies can never be forgotten.
he US-based Assembly of Friends of Azerbaijan (AFAZ) has organized a special event in Washington in order to commemorate the victims of the Khojaly massacre and demand justice for this tragedy, the Azerbaijani Embassy in the U.S. told.
Azerbaijani MPs Asim Mollazade and Sevinj Fataliyeva also spoke about the Khojaly massacre.
Other congressmen and French senator Natalie Goulet paid respect to the Khojaly tragedy victims, noting the importance of resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict as soon as possible.
A photo exhibition dedicated to the Khojaly massacre, which organized as part of the event, displayed the materials prepared within the international campaign “Justice for Khojaly”. Moreover, the tragedy victims’ names were demonstrated on big screens.
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