A joint project of the Council of State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Slovenian-Azerbaijani Friendship Association and the Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe, the event was organized with the direct support of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia.

President of the upper house of the Slovenian Parliament Alojz Kovsca, Chairman of the Council of State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations, Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, MP Azay Guliyev, ambassador of Azerbaijan to Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia Galib Israfilov, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Croatia Fakhraddin Gurbanov, Member of the Board of "Azerbaijani Community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan", Professor Farhad Badalbeyli, Mayor of Maribor Andrey Fischtravets, representatives of diplomatic corps, local residents and journalists attended the event.

Director of the Dobrava Memorial Park, President of the Association of Significant Cemeteries of Europe Lidija Plibersek, Chairman of the upper house of the Slovenian Parliament Alojz Kovsca, Ambassador Galib Israfilov and MP Azay Guliyev made speeches at the opening ceremony.

Then the memorial board was unveiled.

The board reads: “The memorial board is dedicated to victims in the town of Khojaly, Azerbaijan, where 613 innocent civilians, including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly persons, lost their lives in heavy artillery attack on the night of 25 to 26 February, 1992.

With the memorial board to Azerbaijani victims, we express our opposition to violence, ethnic cleansing, racial, religious and national discrimination, wish for promotion of peace and harmony of humanity.”

On Feb. 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops, stationed in Khankendi, committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As many as 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people were killed in the massacre. Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. 1,275 civilians were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people still remains unknown.

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