Interview with Jala Aliyeva, Milli Majlis deputy.
Q: Azerbaijanis throughout the world mark the next anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy. Could you share your opinions over those events?
A: 19 years have passed since the tragedy in Khojaly. Huge work has been done to recognize this tragedy throughout the world and give it due assessment. Azerbaijan, in turn, took necessary steps to assess those events; in 1994 Milli Majlis gave the political assessment to the tragedy in Khojaly at Heydar Aliyev’s initiative and declared 26 February the day of genocide in Khojaly.
In fact, the events in Khojaly have been the culmination point of the aggression, shown against Azerbaijan since 1988. Certainly, many crimes were committed within this aggression in other places, as Gushchular, Malybeyli, Khojavend.
Q: Has enough been done for the due assessment of this tragedy?
A: Azerbaijan has done much in the years since that time. I have already recalled the decision of Milli Medjlis about the political assessment of this. Measures to commemorate victims of this tragedy were always taken in the years after. And in anticipation of every anniversary we are again going through the events in Khojaly.
All the same, I have to note that until recently we were lagging behind in recognition of the Khojaly tragedy on the international level. This has to be confessed. And the reason is known. Sometimes, we expect something from others. We expect the state, its leader to make the first step, to settle the problem of Azerbaijani occupied lands. Certainly, the president, being the supreme commander, is doing this. But all the same, this is the problem of every citizen, every representative of the people. So, let’s ask each other: What have you, regardless of the social status, just being an Azerbaijani citizen, has done in the past 19 years? Each of us sometimes travels abroad and what are we doing for recognition of the Azerbaijani problems abroad? Are we taking some video materials, books about it with us? These are very important issues.
As I have already mentioned, there have been a standstill in this issue before recently. In the past years the initiative in this issue was assumed by Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which launched the international campaign of Justice for Khojaly, aimed at informing the world community not only about the Khojaly tragedy but also the overall Karabakh conflict. As you know, last year the OIC countries have the political assessment to this tragedy, recognizing it as genocide. This was the step, we now except from the world community. Last year we attained much thanks to the activity of the Moscow affiliate of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, led by young patriot Leyla Aliyeva. We managed to achieve the desired in OIC thanks to her efforts.
It is encouraging that the work is not standing still, the activity continues within the framework of the same campaign. But I would like to repeat that for success, we cannot hope for someone or hide behind one’s achievements, since otherwise, we will not win the information warfare, as our enemy is very cunning and mean. In addition, Armenian separatists started this way not 20 years ago. In fact, this campaign started long before that. We tried to forget this, considering our friendly nature, we tried to be friends but eventually the events showed that it was all in vain and their purposeful territorial claims against Azerbaijan and the overall hatred to Turks always existed, and the past 20 years proved this.
Since Armenians manage to present the events in Ottoman Turkey as ‘genocide’, persuade some countries about it, this means Armenians have been purposefully and secretly going to this throughout centuries. Though more than a century has passed since the events in Ottoman Turkey, which Armenians are trying to set up for genocide, Turkey is unable to prove the groundlessness of these statements and also get the world understand that the victims of the murders were Turks, while Armenians were murderers. This debate has continued for more than a century and Armenians are winning so far.
The same policy is applied to Azerbaijan. Even due to the events in Khojaly, we are talking to you about, Armenians are trying to present the murdered residents of this city as Armenians. This is the cunning enemy we are facing.
In the information warfare, reacted with the response actions, we just responded after Armenians hold smear campaigns against us, occupy our lands, shed our blood. In other words, we have never made the first step in this issue. But history shows that we must be quick, the we must hold information warfare, along with fighting it on the battle field, in economic and political sense. This is a very important issue.
Q: A documentary on Khojaly, shown on the Turkish television, has recently been presented with your participation at the Turkish embassy in Baku. Don’t you think there must be more programs of this kind on foreign TV?
A: Naturally, I think so. For example, while reading about fascism in the years of the second world war, we soon forget the things we read. But after watching a documentary at least once, what we see remain in our memory forever. For this reason, in this sense, we need abundance of materials for a better understanding of our problems by an ordinary foreigner.
For the legal assessment of these events, international men of law must recognize them as genocide. These events, when so many people were killed for their national belonging, cannot be called otherwise. The world should understand this. The only way to attain this is the maximally wide spread of facts about these events throughout the world.
Q: Does the world want to hear this?
A: A logical question. The countries, holding the double standards policy, act in the Council of Europe, UN, Minsk Group of OSCE and we should recognize in open that all years of activity and repeat visits of the Minsk Group co-chairs to the region were ineffective. The world must understand the justice of the struggle Azerbaijan conducts.
Our opportunities have never been exhausted. Today we hold successful work at any front. Like supreme commander said, in case negotiations are exhausted, we must be ready for war, though we do not want bloodshed, we must do so to heal our wounds.
Leyla Tagiyeva
News.Az
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