In the name of the Supreme Creator!

We, the heads of religious confessions functioning in Azerbaijan, present this appeal to your attention on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, one of the bloody tragedies of the 20th century.
The Khojaly genocide is the most horrific of the war crimes committed against the peaceful civilian Azerbaijani population during Armenia's military aggression against Azerbaijan. A few days before this massacre—on February 17, 1992—Armenian armed formations subjected the local Azerbaijani population in the village of Garadaghli of the Khojavand district to a mass slaughter. Continuing their crimes with unprecedented cruelty, on the night of February 25 to 26, they committed genocide in the city of Khojaly together with the 366th motorized rifle regiment of the former Soviet army. As a result of the massacres carried out with heavy military equipment, the city of Khojaly was completely destroyed and razed to the ground; 613 Azerbaijanis, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly people, were brutally murdered because of their national identity. With inconceivable cruelty, 8 families were completely wiped out, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent. Cruel extremists scalped people, cut off various limbs, gouged out the eyes of infants, disemboweled pregnant women, buried or burned people alive, and committed savage indignities upon corpses. Among the survivors, 487 peaceful residents were disabled due to severe wounds. 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 the groundless territorial claims and aggressive policy carried out by Armenia against Azerbaijan over many years, 20% of the internationally recognized territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan were kept under occupation for nearly 30 years. A policy of ethnic cleansing and physical and spiritual terror was carried out against the Azerbaijani people; more than one million people were expelled from their ancestral lands in Armenia and the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, forced to live the hardships of refugees and internally displaced persons, their human rights were flagrantly violated, and hundreds of cities and villages, as well as the ancient and rich cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people, were destroyed and plundered.
In the sacred Patriotic War, which began in response to Armenia's subsequent military provocations, Azerbaijan 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, restoring its territorial integrity and historical justice within its borders recognized by the world community. In September 2023, the separatist regime was brought to an end as a result of an anti-terrorist operation, and Azerbaijan's sovereignty was fully restored.
We wish to bring to the attention of the world community that, alongside the policy of occupation, ethnic cleansing, and genocide, Armenia also carried out war crimes and acts of vandalism against the religious-cultural and historical heritage of Azerbaijan during the 30-year occupation. Mosques and other religious temples and cemeteries located in those territories were subjected to Armenian vandalism, and a policy of altering the origins of Russian Orthodox and ancient Albanian Christian churches was implemented. Out of 67 mosques officially registered in the region before the occupation, 65 were completely destroyed by Armenian extremists, mosques were turned into stables, and by keeping animals forbidden in Islam there, they openly insulted the dignity of the entire Islamic world. Foreign guests visiting our liberated territories with observer missions call these places "the Hiroshima of the Caucasus" and "the city of spirits." While leaving Azerbaijani lands, the occupiers applied a "scorched earth" policy in those areas and planted hundreds of thousands of mines. After the war, Armenian religious leaders, with revanchist statements, are calling their people not to the peace that is extremely necessary for the region, but to a new war. At a time when positive dynamics in the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan are increasing, the heads of the Armenian church appeal to international institutions and religious organizations, spreading false and slanderous disinformation about Azerbaijan's alleged destruction of Christian monuments in the liberated territories, trying to cover up the real truths to divert attention from the vandalism committed by Armenia in Karabakh.
Over many years, we have appealed to the entire progressive community, calling them not to remain indifferent to the Khojaly genocide and to raise their voices for the prosecution of those who committed this terrible tragedy. International experience shows that bringing to justice persons who have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity is a complex legal and political process that often exceeds the capabilities of individual states. Following the Karabakh Victory, the leaders of the Armenian separatist regime in Karabakh and terrorists whose hands are stained with the blood of the Azerbaijani people, including the killers of Khojaly, are answering before the Azerbaijani court and the Azerbaijani people, being sentenced to the punishment they deserve. It is the rightful demand of the Azerbaijani people that the persons responsible for the grave crimes committed during Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan be brought before a court of justice and that the Khojaly criminals receive their deserved punishment. The trial of persons who have committed war crimes against humanity is a triumph of universal justice, and the international community should demonstrate support for this process.
On the 34th anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy, we commemorate the memory of the innocent victims of the tragedy with deep respect and honor. Today, the city of Khojaly is being rebuilt, our spiritual monuments are being reconstructed, and the residents of Khojaly are returning to their native lands. However, like the innocent victims of Khatyn, Guernica, My Lai, and similar human tragedies, the cries of the Khojaly victims are not erased from our hearts, and the broken fates of innocent children, women, and the elderly are not forgotten. So that the world does not experience such tragedies again, these events must not be forgotten; they must be condemned at the international level, and the guilty must be punished appropriately.
Azerbaijan is currently proposing economic projects that can serve the prosperity of the region, including Armenia. At a time when the leaderships of Azerbaijan and Armenia are taking real steps toward peace, the world community must not turn a blind eye to the statements and racist calls of certain political and religious circles in Armenia calling the Armenian people to new wars, hatred, occupation, and separatism.
The religious confessions in Azerbaijan declare their support for ending any military aggression, calls for war and hatred, religious and ethnic intolerance, and revanchist tendencies in our region, and for establishing good neighborliness, peace, and tranquility between states and peoples. We once again invite world religious leaders, international organizations, parliaments, and the world community to show joint efforts for the sake of these lofty goals.

May the Supreme Creator help us all in good deeds and in being just! AMEN!

Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur PASHAZADE Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Board
ALEKSIY Bishop of Baku and Azerbaijan, Russian Orthodox Church
Milikh YEVDAYEV Head of the Community of Mountain Jews in Azerbaijan
Aleksandr SHAROVSKI Head of the Community of European Jews in Baku
Robert MOBILI Chairman of the Albanian-Udi Christian Religious Community
Zamir ISAYEV Head of the Baku Religious Community of Sephardic Jews

Baku City, February 24, 2026