Khojali “Genocide” Baku Fabrication

16 comments

1. Internet Department

   The Armenian government should create a department that deals with Internet affairs.
   e.g. they should file a complaint with Google for posting the fake clips on YouTube and have them removed. Then they should file lawsuits against Azerbaijan and Turkey in International Courts for using the Internet to brainwash people and promote hatred and terrorism; plenty proof is available now on the Internet.

   Currently, Turkish youth who are seeing those videos on the Internet, are believing the lies and getting filled with hatred towards Armenians – just check their vulgar comments on YouTube!  They already have blood on their hands, so I will not be surprised to see Sumgait-type massacres in Ankara and Istanbul because of these false videos.  They must be removed.  

   The Internet is currently being used to promote hatred instead of halting it. The only way for a solution is by government interference.

   1. Muddying Waters

      Those Turkish/Azeri Talibans are supported by their goverments to muddy the waters with lies. It’s a full-time job for those idiots–with OVERTIME,

      The educated Turk has some knowledge of his history, but their numbers are few and  the fear of being outcast keeps them quiet.

      Armenia’s only hope of survival is its armed forces who are second to none. Our heroes did not live long enough to retire and tell their story, against all odds. We are still here to tell our story, but alas who listens? Not the savages around us.

2. Azeri Journalist Exposes Baku’s Khojali Lies

    Azeri Journalist Exposes Baku’s Khojali Lies

   I would like to commend Keghart for the very informative editorial… the astute observations, the constructive criticism and suggestions.  

   After writing his courageous article “Karabakh Dairy” in which he exposed the Azeri fraud, journalist Eynulla Fatullayev was arrested and sentenced to two years and six months in jail because he “has, for a long period of time, insulted the honor and dignity of the victims of the Khojaly Tragedy, persons killed during those tragic events and their relatives, as well as veterans of the Karabakh War, soldiers of the Azerbaijani National Army and the entire Azerbaijani people," Ms T. Chaladze, the head of the Centre for Protection of Refugees and Displaced Persons alleged.

   After his sentence, Fatullayev’s colleagues appealed to the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR).  Here is what the ECHR stated in its “Statement of Facts” portion of the case:

   “ The applicant [Eynulla Fatullayev] made certain statements which could be construed as differing from the commonly accepted version of the Khojaly events, according to which hundreds of Azerbaijani civilians had been killed by the Armenian armed forces during their assault on the town of Khojaly in the course of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Specifically, the article contained the following passages (translated from Russian): ‘On the eve of the large-scale offensive of the Russian and Armenian troops on Khojaly, the town had been encircled [by those troops]. And already several days prior to the attack, the Armenians had been continuously warning the population about the planned operation through loudspeakers and proposing that the civilians abandon the town and escape from the encirclement through a humanitarian corridor along the Kar-Kar River. According to the Khojaly refugees’ own words, they had used this corridor and, indeed, the Armenian soldiers positioned behind the corridor had not opened fire on them."

    “The corridor indeed existed, otherwise the Khojaly inhabitants, fully surrounded [by the enemy troops] and isolated from the outside world, would not have been able to force their way out and escape the encirclement. However, having crossed the area behind the Kar-Kar River, the row of refugees was separated and, for some reason, a part of [them] headed in the direction of Nakhichevanik. It appears that the NFA battalions strived not for the liberation of the Khojaly civilians but for more bloodshed on their way to overthrow A. Mutalibov [the first President of Azerbaijan] …”

   On April 22, 2010, the ECHR issued a decision stating that the journalist should be released immediately and the Azerbaijani government should pay 27,822 EUR to Fatullayev in compensation.

   To  circumvent the ECHR decision and to avoid compliance with the court decision, the Azeri authorities trumped up new charges of tax evasion, heroin possession, and terrorism and sentenced him to eight years and six months years of imprisonment.

   Reporters Without Boarder, Amnesty International, Human Rights House Foundation, Freedom of Expression, International Pen Article among many other human rights organizations defended Mr. Fatullayev.

   The Fatullayev’s case at the ECHR is the most interesting and damning evidence about the Azeri falsifications. As we have seen,  the ECHR, which is impartial and a respected institution, unmasked the Azeri big lie machine.

   I am perplexed that our lobbyists did not utilize this important institution’s judgment to defeat the Azeri government’s petro-dollar hired guns’ attempt to manufacture history.

   For additional information on this case, see the below links:

   European Court of Human Rights issues decision to release Eynulla Fatullayev.
   http://humanrightshouse.org/Articles/14062.html

   Azerbaijan urged to release journalist after court revokes charges
   http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/azerbaijan-urged-release-journalist-after-court-revokes-charges-2010-11-12

   IMPRISONED JOURNALIST WILL NOT BE FREED REGARDLESS OF OUTCOME OF AZERBAIJAN’S APPEAL
   http://en.rsf.org/azerbaidjan-journalist-s-additional-30-month-06-07-2010,37887.html

   Azerbaijan and the case of Eynulla Fatullayev
   http://ibamedialaw.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/azerbaijan-and-the-case-of-eynulla-fatullayev/

   EYNULLA FATULLAYEV: FURTHER APPEAL SUBMITTED TO EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/politzek-az-2/message/1670

   Azerbaijan: Comply with European Court decision on case of imprisoned journalist and drop new charges
   http://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/1534/en/azerbaijan:-comply-with-european-court-decision-on-case-of-imprisoned-journalist-and-drop-new-charges

3. Azeri Politicians, Journalist Unmask Azeri Lies

   Azeri Politicians, Journalist Unmask Azeri Lies

   The Azeri use of pictures of victims of killings around the world to claim that they are the pictures of Khojali victims are notorious.

   The Azeris used a picture of Kosovo casualties and claimed that they were Azeri victims of the so-called Armenian genocide in Khojali. Another infamous falsification of a photo took place with the picture of the 1988 Turkish earthquake where a mother is weeping over her five dead children.

   The Azeris claimed that the children are the victims of Armenian aggression. A third example of falsification in the Azeri propaganda war against the Armenians is the picture of two starving children which the Azeris claim are two Azeri victims of Armenian brutality. In reality the two children are Afghans.

   To view the falsified photos and their originals, visit the below link:
   http://www.keghart.com/images/Khojalu_AZE_propaganda.pps

   "It is clear that the execution of civilians in Khojalu was organized to legitimize a coup d’etat in Azerbaijan.” – Ayaz Mutalibov, then President of Azerbaijan – Novoie Vremia, 6 March 2001

   “We could have helped the inhabitants of Khojalu, we had the required strength and facilities. But the leaders of the Republic [of Azerbaijan] wanted to show the people that they were overwhelmed and that they needed the support of the CIS army (Community of Independent States) to crush the opposition.” — R. Hadjiev, member of the Aghdam section of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan – Moscow Izvestia, April 1992

   “I was unable to film the bodies merely because there are none.” – Cengiz Mustafaev, journalist; reports to DR-press (Moscow), 28 Feb. to 2 March 1992 (He was killed a few days after near Aghdam. His death remains unexplained.

   “This killing will benefit us. We must not interfere in the course of events.” – Heydar Aliev, President of Azerbajian –Bilik-Duniasy Agency, 1992

   "We have to admit that, if the Popular Front of Azerbaijan had ambitious goals, it probably achieved them: Mutalibov is compromised and dismissed. The worldwide public opinion is shocked and the Azeris and their Turkish brotherS believed the thesis of the genocide of the Khojalu Azeri people." – Megapolis Express, Azerbaijani Review, #17, 1992

   “The tragedy was committed by the authorities of Azerbaijan, in concrete terms by someone highly placed.” – Tamerlan Karayev, Chairman of the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan at this time – Moukhthalifat, 28 April 1992

   “The town and its inhabitants were deliberately sacrificed for a political purpose – to prevent the Popular Front of Azerbaijan from coming to power.” –Arif Yunusov, Journalist – Zerkalo, July 1992

   “A corridor was however opened by the Armenians. Then why should they have shot?” – Ayaz Mutalibov, then President of Azerbaijan – Nezavisimaia Gazeta, 02 April 1992

   “We knew that the corridor was dedicated to the evacuation of civilians.” – Elman Mamedov, Mayor of Khojalu – Russian Thought, 03 March 1992 reprinted from the Baku Worker

   “Khojalu was an important strategic position. Its loss meant the political fiasco of the Mutalibov regime. The Khojalu events which led to death of civilians were the exclusive result of political intrigues and struggles for power in Azerbaijan.” – M. Safaroghli, Journalist – Nezavisimaia Gazeta, February 1993.

4. Khojali Incident

   Khojali Incident
   Here’s a document from Patrick Wilson Gore–a non-Armenian military expert regarding the so-called genocide in Khojali:
   [A former paratrooper and marine commando, Patrick Wilson Gore studied at Oxford University, and subsequently graduated from the National Defence College at Kingston, Ontario–one of NATO’s senior command colleges. Much of his career has been focused on strategic intelligence. He is an expert in military history and theory. He wrote the below statement in "Tis Some Poor Fellow’s Skull; Post-Soviet Warfare in the Southern Caucasus"]

   " …although neither Azeri nor Armenian, I have traveled widely in Nagorno-Karabagh and talked to many who participated in the conflict there while researching my history of the events: ‘Tis some poor fellow’s skull—Post-Soviet Warfare in the Southern Caucasus. One thing that struck me on my return was the attempt made by the Azeris to deflect criticism from the Maragha massacre by claiming that the Armenians were responsible for the deaths of civilians following the action at Khodjali, and that this somehow amounted to genocide. We have all seen the horrible photographs of children slain on the night of 25-26 February 1992 in the snow-covered hills between Khodjali and Aghdam.

   "The Azeris see them as prima facie evidence of genocide. The killing of non-combatants, particularly if they happen to be eight-year-old girls, can only be explained in terms of a calculated attempt to destroy a community. I was not at Khodjali in February 1992, although I have spoken with people who were, and have looked at evidence from both sides in an attempt to uncover the truth of what happened. During the winter of 1991-92, the airfield at Khodjali was one of a number of Azeri firebases surrounding the Karabagh capital of Stepanakert, from which the town was bombarded day and night. Conditions in the besieged town were unspeakably bad. Food and medical supplies were soon depleted, and the only link with the outside world was by helicopter from Yerevan. The occasional choppers landed in the town and quickly took off again under artillery and Grad missile fire. Municipal infrastructure was destroyed. The people drew water from wells on the outskirts of town. It was hard even to bury the dead in the frozen ground.

   The Armenians fought back, knowing that if they surrendered, few if any would survive, as the Azeris made no secret of their plans to pursue the ethnic cleansing, begun with Operation Koltso in April 1991, to eliminate the Christian Armenian community. (In June 1992, just in case any doubts remained, Azeri President Abulfaz Elchibey promised: “If there is a single Armenian left in Karabagh this October, Azeris will hang him in Baku’s Central Square.”) The ex-Soviet troops stationed in Stepanakert, for the most part, took no part in hostilities, until some Azeri missiles fell into their cantonment at the southern end of Stepanakert and inflicted casualties.

   The Khodjali firebase was a major threat to the town and blocked the only road from Stepanakert to the Armenian communities to the north. It had the only airstrip in Karabagh and, as long as it was in Azeri hands, cut off most contact with the outside world. Supplies could not be brought in to Stepanakert; the seriously wounded could not be evacuated. Toward the end of February 1992, a mixed force of ex-Soviet soldiers and Armenian volunteers launched a night attack on Khodjali, where, in addition to Azeri army and interior ministry troops, a colony of Meskhetian Turks had been located in the context of the “Azerification” of Karabagh. (The Turks and Azeris speak mutually intelligible Turkic languages.) These were ethnic Turks, originally from southern Georgia, whom Stalin had resettled in Uzbekistan, fearing that Turkey might join the Axis powers during the Great Patriotic War, leaving a Meskhetian fifth column behind Soviet lines. They had languished for decades in Uzbekistan, hoping some day to return to their homes in the Caucasus, until the break-up of the Soviet Empire left them stateless in Central Asia. The Azeris offered them a home in Karabagh. Probably knowing that they were being used as pawns in a dangerous game, the Meskhetians accepted. And found themselves caught up in the Khodjali fight. Reports of the battle are confused.

   The Azeris say that their garrison fought heroically to the last man. The Armenians say they ran faster than the Meskhetians they were using as human shields. Because they were few in numbers and had limited supplies of ammunition, the Armenians left the road to Aghdam open. It was their standard operating procedure, and was used later during the attacks on Shoushi and Aghdam. Always the escape route was left open so that a fight to the death could be avoided. For reasons unknown, some Meskhetian civilians crossed the River Karkar which runs beside the road north and trekked into the hills to the east before turning north toward the Azeri railhead base at Aghdam. When daylight came, some of these people were found dead, with gunshot wounds. Azeri cameramen collected graphic evidence of what they immediately labeled an Armenian atrocity. This was to be expected. Even before conditions in Stepankert became frightful, there were many refugees there from the Azeri pogroms in Sumgait in February 1988, and elsewhere; and some Azeri refugees from Armenian retaliation in the Kapan region, had enlisted in the Baku interior ministry OMON special forces who formed part of the Khodjali garrison. So both sides had old scores to settle, and the Armenians claimed, moreover, that the Azeri OMON had murdered Armenian prisoners at Khodjali in the hours before the attack. In this atmosphere of accusation and counter accusation, truth is elusive, but setting recrimination aside as far as possible, we can look for a plausible explanation for what happened.

   Many of the men who attacked Khodjali were regular soldiers of the 366th Motor Rifle Regiment. The USSR had been formally dissolved two months earlier, but the army still took orders from Moscow, and Russian remained the language of command and control. Soviet tactical doctrine demanded that after a successful attack, the attackers prepare to resist a counter-attack. This is an absolute priority and takes precedence over everything else, even taking care of one’s own wounded.

   It seems unlikely that even the most vindictive and blood-crazed attacker would have defied orders and crossed the River Karkar to pursued a possible enemy through the night into snow-covered hills. The danger of ambush would be deterrent enough. The civilians fleeing across the river were clearly disoriented, but would soon have seen the lights of Aghdam, the Azeri railhead a few miles north of Khodjali, and headed toward them. Let us now look at the situation in Aghdam, whose defenders belonged to a disparate group of militias as well as regular troops and OMON. They would have been alerted by heavy firing from the south, and retreating Azeri troops would have passed through their positions on the road from Khodjali. Then, through the night they saw figures coming through the snow to the east of the road. They opened fire until the figures stopped coming. When daylight came, dead civilians, including children, were found in front of the Azeri positions.

   In the absence of unbiased witnesses, or indeed of any witnesses, perhaps the best evidence as to what happened after the Khodjali battle is to be found by looking at Soviet military doctrine, reinforced by soldierly common sense. It is very unlikely that any Armenians pursued fleeing Azeris or Meskhetians across the River Karkar. The dead civilians found in the snow south of Aghdam, almost certainly died as a result of “friendly fire” from the Azeri positions."

   Patrick Wilson Gore, M.A.(Oxon), ndc, "Tis some poor fellow’s skull—Post Soviet Warfare in the Southern Caucasus", New York, 2008.

5. More on Khojali

   What is pathetic is that even Turkish  journalists and human rights activists, etc., who defend  the Armenian cause, write "Khojali genocide" in their  articles.

   Yes to Armenian rights, human rights and to Armenian Genocide. However, when it comes to Khojali, it is genocide. Most of these people, who one assumes are educated, maybe know a foreign language, still perpetuate this Azeri fabrication. Don’t they have access to the Internet? Don’t they question Azeri propaganda and fabrications?

   I follow Hye-Tert blog of Istanbul. There are many Turks who are sympathetic to our cause, but when it comes to Khojali…..well…you guessed. It becomes Khojali genocide. This is unsettling. If they can support our rights openly, how come Azeri propaganda becomes Khojali genocide? Why are they swayed by this fabrication?

6. Between hunger and fire

   The facts about Khojali are documented in this video:

7. Useful Khojalu reference links

   For the many truth-tellers and truth-seekers reading Keghart, below are some links — about Azeri pogroms against indigenous Armenians, the independent republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and the Khojalu incident — that can elucidate the non-Armenian public. Please distribute them widely.

   Office of the Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) Republic in Washington, DC (http://nkrusa.org/ ) and their fact sheets about Khojalu:
   http://www.nkrusa.org/nk_conflict/khojaly.shtml

   Khojalu Documentation Site:
   http://xocali.net/

   About the deliberate Azerbaijani destruction of historic Armenian Monuments in Djulfa, Nakhichevan:
   http://www.djulfa.com/

   About the "Artsakh: From Liberation to Statehood" (and the Azeri Misinformation Campaign) Conference held March 3, 2012 in Glendale, CA): http://asbarez.com/101511/artsakh-from-liberation-to-statehood-conference-brings-together-over-400-community-members/

   Recommended books and pamphlets:

   "The Truth about Khojaly" by Tatul Hakobyan, excerpted from his book, "Green and Black: Artsakh Diary": http://www.truthaboutkhojaly.org/

   "Ethnic Cleansing in Progress," a report by Baroness Caroline Cox and John Aijbner with an introduction by Elena Bonner Sakharov, published by the Institute for Religious Minorities in the Islamic World:
   http://www.maragha.nk.am/documentseng4.html

   "The Invention of History: Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Showcasing of Imagination," by Rouben Galichian
   http://keghart.com/Chorbajian_Galichian

   The Making of Nagorno-Karabagh from Secession to Republic, Edited by
   Levon Chorbajian
   http://www.hayq.org/upload/files/The_Making_of_Nagorno-Karabagh_ed._Levon_Chorbajian.pdf

   "Kha-ra-bagh! The Emergence of the National Democratic Movement in Armenia," by Mark Malkhasian
   http://www.amazon.com/Gha-Ra-Bagh-Emergence-National-Democratic-Movement/dp/0814326048/ref=sr_1_sc_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330195507&sr=1-3-spell 

   1. To Nazarian

      Dear Mr. Nazarian,

      Though I do appreciate your efforts in searching the many links, as to the Khajalou myth, your efforts are a waste of time. I want you and countrymen of mine to get this straight: the Turco-azeri mindset is geared to falsify all it can. It's to smear anything that is good about Armenians, and steal/claim as their own areas that have been, for millenia, Armenia. It is their character and nature. And they are good at it. Unfortunately for us, odars believe what they hear from Turco-azeris. The best thing to do is to post such writings in foreign, as well as our websites. However, ours does not carry much force.

      Haigaganoren,

      Gaytzag

8. I fully appreciate

   I fully appreciate your post. It offered me some amazing information that I was looking for to enhance my knowledge. It answered a few questions that I was looking for such a long time.

9. New book debunking Azeri propaganda

   Clash of Histories in the South Caucasus
   Redrawing the Map of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Iran
   A new study by Rouben Galichian

   Now Published 2012-2013

   “Rewriting history and redrawing boundaries are ancient political strategies for shaping national identity, nation-building and establishing territorial claims. Ethnicity and cultural heritage are especially powerful symbols, and therefore targets, for territorial claims – a process exemplified by the Republic of Azerbaijan’s state-sponsored invention of its own national identity.”

   This richly illustrated study documents the complexity of territorial struggles within the South Caucasus over the past two millennia. As the only former Soviet republic not to be created from an established ethnic group, ever since its formation in 1918 Azerbaijan has used strategies adapted especially from the USSR and Pan-Turkism movement to create a nationalistic ethnos/mythos at odds with the historical and geographical reality.

   Rouben Galichian examines the motives and methodology employed by Azerbaijani historians and geographers in officially recreating the history, boundaries and even ethnicity of this historically volatile region. Particular focus is given to Azerbaijan’s  campaign for the geo-historical appropriation of neighbouring Armenia and Iranian Azerbaijan, a selective campaign that ignores Georgia and Russia’s North Caucasus. The evidence of the ancient and later cartographers along with the Graeco-Roman historians and the accounts of Islamic and European travellers confirm the international position that runs counter to Azerbaijan’s claims.

   Rouben Galichian was born in Tabriz, Iran, to a family of immigrant Armenians who fled Van to escape the Genocide, arriving in Iran via Armenia, Georgia and France. After attending school in Tehran, Rouben studied engineering in the UK. His books include Historic Maps of Armenia: The Cartographic Heritage, Countries South of the Caucasus in Medieval Maps: Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, and The Invention of History: Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the Showcasing of Imaginations, which documents the culture and history of Nagorno-Karabakh through the centuries. For his services to Armenian historical cartography, Rouben was awarded in 2008 an Honorary Doctorate by the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. In 2009 he was the recipient of Armenia’s Vazgen I Cultural Achievements Medal.

   232pp • ILLUSTRATED with 57 colour maps • £29.99 • HBK • ISBN 9781908755018

   For more information or interview requests please contact Bennett & Bloom Press: Anna Rundgren at: [email protected]

10. Promoting Facts

    Is promoting the fact that 500,000 to 1 million people were forcefully expelled from their homes  spreading hatred against Armenian people? Of course not. It is you, Armenians, who are being racist. You expelled 20% to 25% of Nagorno-Karabagh's population.

    I see on various websites that you even want to expand your borders to grab Nakhichevan. Yet you cry about negative attitudes against your people. It is your fault that your neighbors have negative views about you, because you talk about territorial demands and expanding your borders to a point that you would be wiping your neighbors off the map.

    You claim Azerbaijan massacred its own people. Why would anyone want to kill his own people? Stop making excuses. The obvious fact is that 500,000 to 1 million people were expelled from Nagorno-Karabagh unfairly, unjustly and randomly because of one word: aggression. You don't want to let refugees return to Nagorno-Karapagh because you fear that the world would wake up to Armenia aggression. 

    What about how the building, by NKR Armenian authorities, of an airport in Khojaly? It proves that Armenians committed a crime. It's like building a mosque in front of the 9-11 memorial. It proves that Armenia committed aggression. 

    I believe NKR should be independent and should let all ethnic Azeri refugees be relocated to NKR. I believe NKR should not be reunited with Yerevan or Baku, but achieve a multi-ethnic solution similar to Switzerland.
     

    1. To Samir

       Dear Samir,

       Obviously, you are not very good at math. I understand that you have bitter feelings, but please try to use simple logic which will help you see clearly how the "truth" which you know is distorted and which disseminates ONLY hatred.

       Who is going to benefit from this hatred, you might ask? and since you are asking questions "why would anyone want to kill his own people?". 

       I have another question, but let's start from clarifying a simple one. You claim that NKR's 20-25% of population was expelled. You say "the obvious fact is that 500,000 to one-million people were expelled" and it's juxtaposed in such a way with the next sentence that it gives the impression of people expelled from Nagorno-Karabagh. If this 500,000 to one million people were 20-25% of the population then what was the total population of NKR before the war? I leave the answer to this question to you to find out from your sources. In the age of Internet it's not hard to find unbiased information, unless you have a hidden agenda.

       In all cases, I assure you that the numbers are not important for us. Each Azeri, Armenian, Turk, Kurd or Talish is a human being and equally valued. Each person killed on the basis of nationality is equally tragic for us. Please keep in mind that we are mourning for the loss of each life because each casualty is pushing us further apart from understanding one other.   

       At any rate the population of NKR, with its neighboring regions, did not exceed 200,000. More than 75% were Armenian.  

        

        

    2. Deportations, Territorial Demands

       That's fascinating, Samir. While we are on the subject of deportations, please tell me what you make of the number of Armenians, from Azerbaijan and its enclave in Nakhichevan, who had to flee Azerbaijan after the Sumgayit, Maragha, Kirovabad and Baku progroms?

       While we're on the subject, Samir, please tell me about the territorial demands of Azerbaijan, such as the desire to annex Iranian Azarbaijan, Iraq and other areas as postulated by the top members of the Azerbaijan government? Or perhaps the pan-Turkism spread by prominent parties in Azerbaijan.

       Please answer me. Is your criticism directed only at Armenians and your fairness selectively, favoring Turks? 
        

11. Khojaly “Genocide” Baku Fabrication

    What surprises me is that some Armenians show little interest or concern here, in California, when I try to point out that Turkish and Azeri propaganda lies have flooded the Internet.

    1. Armenians hit on all sides

       Lawrence, the likely response you'd get would be "which fire would you like us to put out first?"  There is no shortage of injustices and persecutions against the Armenians — past or present. 

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