The Khojaly Massacre, which went down in history as a black mark, took place in the town of Khojaly in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. On February 26, 1992, Armenian forces launched an attack and targeted civilians. In the attack, civilians were massacred en masse without discrimination of men, women and children. As a result of this inhumane attack, 613 Azerbaijani citizens lost their lives. Among these casualties are 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly people. Hundreds of people were injured in the attack and thousands were taken prisoner. This event is referred to as one of the most brutal massacres in human history.
What Happened Before the Massacre
The chain of events behind the Khojaly Massacre began with the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. Although the Karabakh region belonged to Azerbaijan, it was claimed by Armenia. This situation was caused by the fact that the Armenian population in the region was in the majority and the effect of Soviet policies. However, the region belongs to Azerbaijan according to international law. Tension rose further when Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh wanted to leave Azerbaijan and join Armenia in 1988. The Nagorno-Karabakh Assembly declared that it was attached to Armenia. In response to this situation, Azerbaijan abolished the autonomous status of the region and attached it to itself.
This process, which started in 1988, continued escalating during the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Karabakh self-government declared itself as a predominantly Armenian-populated region who wanted to secede from Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has attached itself to itself by removing the autonomous status in the region. After these developments, the autonomous administration of Karabakh organized an independence referendum and declared the “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic”. However, Azerbaijanis did not participate in this referendum. As a result, Armenian forces, with the support of Russia, occupied the Nagorno-Karabakh region and conflicts began.
February 26, 1992 Khojaly Massacre
Khojaly was one of the important points of Nagorno-Karabakh due to its location and had an area of 936 square kilometers. Khojaly, where there were 2 thousand 605 households, was a town where approximately 7 thousand people lived. However, due to the conflicts, the population had decreased to 3 thousand. The only airport in the region was also here and therefore of strategic importance. Armenian forces took action in the last days of 1991. They captured the roads leading to Khojaly and the surrounding villages, and even food aid could be made from the air. The offensive began on the evening of February 25, 1992, and Armenian forces, with alleged Russian military support, held the city under artillery and tank fire. The attack lasted until the morning of February 26 and 613 people lost their lives.
The massacre carried out by the Armenian forces at night was recorded as one of the darkest spots in the history of humanity with the first lights of February 26. Mass killings of civilians and brutal acts were bloodied in history, with footage shot at that time and the narratives of survivors. According to official sources, there were 63 children, 106 women and 70 elderly people among those killed in the massacre. 487 people survived with serious injuries, 1275 people were held as prisoners by the Armenian forces. There were 68 women and 26 children among those taken captive, and there is still no news of 150 people. There were 8 families completely destroyed in the massacre, and 25 children lost both parents and 130 children lost at least one parent.
Liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh from Occupation
After the Khojaly Massacre, Azerbaijani President Ayaz Muttalibov resigned from his post. The Azerbaijani Parliament declared what happened in Khojaly to be a “genocide”. The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan continued until 1994 and the peace talks between the two sides were inconclusive. In the clashes that took place on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border on July 14, 2020, 7 soldiers, one of which was a major general from the Azerbaijani army, were martyred, and this incident led to the start of the war to liberate Nagorno-Karabakh from occupation.
On September 27, when Armenian forces opened fire on civilian settlements near Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani army launched a counterattack to liberate their lands from occupation. The occupied lands were liberated one by one by the Azerbaijani army, and a total of 5 cities, 4 towns and 287 villages were able to live freely under the Azerbaijani flag again. However, as a result of the conflicts that lasted for 44 days, 100 civilians lost their lives and 416 civilians were injured in the attacks of the Armenian army.
