In the name of the Almighty Creator!
We, the leaders of religious confessions operating in Azerbaijan, bring this appeal to your attention on the eve of the 33rd anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, one of the most tragic pages in Azerbaijani history and one of the bloodiest tragedies of the 20th century.
The Khojaly genocide is the most horrific of the war crimes committed against the peaceful Azerbaijani civilian population during Armenia's military aggression against Azerbaijan. A few days before this massacre—on February 17, 1992—Armenian armed forces subjected the local Azerbaijani population in the village of Garadaghli in the Khojavend district of Azerbaijan to a mass slaughter. Continuing their crimes with unprecedented cruelty, they committed the genocide in the city of Khojaly on the night of February 25-26 with the participation of the 366th motorized rifle regiment of the former Soviet army. As a result of the massacres, which continued with the use of heavy military equipment, the city of Khojaly was completely razed to the ground, and 613 Azerbaijanis—including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly people—were brutally murdered because of their national identity. With unimaginable cruelty, 8 families were completely destroyed, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent. The enraged extremists scalped people, cut off various body parts, gouged out the eyes of babies, slit the bellies of pregnant women, buried or burned people alive, and savagely desecrated and mined some of the bodies. Even the civilian population who tried to escape barefoot in the freezing weather was not spared; they were pursued and killed with particular brutality by Armenian military units on roads and in forests. As a result of this crime against humanity, 487 civilians were disabled due to severe injuries, and the fate of 150 of the 1,275 citizens taken hostage, including 68 women and 26 children, remains unknown to this day.
As a result of Armenia's baseless territorial claims and aggressive policy against Azerbaijan for many years, 20% of the internationally recognized territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan were occupied for nearly 30 years. A policy of ethnic cleansing, physical, and psychological terror was carried out against the Azerbaijani people, and more than one million people were driven from their ancestral lands in Armenia and the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, forced to endure the hardships of being refugees and internally displaced persons. Their human rights were grossly violated, and hundreds of cities and villages, as well as the ancient and rich cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people, were destroyed and plundered.
Starting in the summer of 2020, Armenia began a new military provocation against Azerbaijan, attempting to expand its occupied territory with the slogan "new war for new territories" by using heavy artillery against various regions of Azerbaijan, civilian populations, and infrastructure. Continuing its war crimes and acts of vandalism, the aggressive Armenian regime fired heavy artillery, ballistic missiles, and phosphorus and cluster bombs at our settlements located on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and far from the military operations zone, including major cities like Ganja, Barda, Tartar, Mingachevir, and Gabala, and even areas close to the capital city of Baku. In response to Armenia's next military provocations, Azerbaijan, in the sacred Patriotic War, liberated its ancestral lands from 30 years of occupation in accordance with the norms of international law and the requirements of UN Security Council Resolutions 822, 853, 874, and 884. Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity and historical justice within its internationally recognized borders. As a result of the 23-hour anti-terrorist operation in September 2023, Azerbaijan's sovereignty was fully restored.
We want to bring to the attention of the global community that, along with its policy of aggression, ethnic cleansing, and genocide, Armenia also committed war crimes and acts of vandalism against Azerbaijan's religious, cultural, and historical heritage during the 30-year occupation. Mosques and other religious temples, as well as cemeteries located in those areas, were subjected to Armenian vandalism. A policy of altering the origin of Russian Orthodox and ancient Albanian Christian churches was also carried out. Of the 67 mosques officially registered in the region before the occupation, Armenian extremists completely destroyed 65. Mosques were turned into stables, and animals forbidden in Islam were kept there, openly insulting the dignity of the entire Islamic world. Currently, foreign guests who come on observation missions to our liberated territories call these places the "Hiroshima of the Caucasus" and a "city of ghosts."
When the occupiers left the Azerbaijani lands, they implemented a "scorched earth" policy and planted thousands of mines. Armenia, with blatant disregard for international law and humanitarian principles, avoids providing mine maps or provides fake, inaccurate maps. After the war, Armenian religious leaders, with revanchist statements, call their people not to peace, which is extremely necessary for the region, but to a new war. Armenian political and religious circles appeal to international bodies and religious organizations, spreading false and slanderous disinformation that Azerbaijan is allegedly destroying Christian monuments in the liberated territories. They try to obscure the truth in order to divert attention from the vandalism committed by Armenia in Karabakh.
We, the leaders of religious confessions, state that in Azerbaijan, where we operate, state-religion relations are regulated at a high level, and all religions are guaranteed equal rights by the state. With the decrees of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, and the direct participation and patronage of First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, the lands of Karabakh are currently being revived and rebuilt. This includes the restoration of the rich cultural and historical heritage destroyed and plundered by Armenia, as well as Muslim and Christian temples. The Azerbaijani state is implementing the Great Return of our compatriots to our liberated territories, including the long-suffering Khojaly. President Ilham Aliyev recently met with the residents returning to the Ballija village of Khojaly and familiarized himself with the work done to restore individual houses and infrastructure.
We invite international and religious organizations to see for themselves the exemplary environment of tolerance and multiculturalism that exists in Azerbaijan, to witness the real situation in the liberated territories, and to see the results of Armenian vandalism against our cultural and religious monuments with their own eyes in order to give an objective assessment of these inhumane acts. We note with regret that behind the mass violence, extremism, and terrorist crimes that occur in the world lie dangerous tendencies such as double standards in the attitudes of some politicians, religious figures, states, and organizations toward these problems, as well as religious and racial discrimination. The Azerbaijani people will never forget the Khojaly tragedy. Khojaly is being rebuilt, but historical justice must be restored for Khojaly. Over the past years, purposeful activities have been carried out to make our voice heard worldwide and to get the Khojaly genocide recognized internationally. Since 2008, this activity has gained momentum with the "Justice for Khojaly" international campaign. The massacre committed in Khojaly has been recognized as genocide by a number of countries and international organizations, and the tragedy has been given an international political assessment. We appeal to all progressive communities not to remain indifferent to the Khojaly genocide and to raise their voices to hold those who committed this terrible tragedy accountable and bring them to justice.
May the Almighty Creator help us all in righteous deeds and in being just! AMEN!
Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade,
Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Board
Bishop Alexiy,
Head of the Baku and Azerbaijan Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church
Milikh Yevdayev,
Head of the Community of Mountain Jews
Robert Mobili,
Chairman of the Albanian-Udi Christian Religious Community in Azerbaijan
Alexander Sharovski,
Head of the Community of European Jews in Azerbaijan
Baku, February 25, 2025
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