Azerbaijani Human Rights Commissioner made on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of occupation of Shusha

4 May 2012 11:00 (UTC+04:00)

The Armenian nationalists carrying out their territorial claims against neighbor countries from time to time and living with a dream to create \"Great Armenia\" continuously committed terrible crimes and pursued terrorism and genocide policy again mankind.

This has been reflected in a statement of the Azerbaijani Human Rights Commissioner, Elmira Suleymanova, made on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of occupation of Shusha.

The statement has been addressed to the UN Security Council, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNESCO secretary general, European Commission, Council of Europe, OSCE, International and European Ombudsman Institute, Asian Ombudsman Association, International Peace Bureau, Universal Peace Federation, ombudsmen of different countries, Azerbaijani embassies in foreign countries and foreign embassies in Azerbaijan and diaspora organizations of Azerbaijan.

The document says that the goal of the insidious policy of Armenian nationalists who historically had no state, abused mercy and humanism of our people and took refuge in the Azerbaijani lands is to forcedly expel Azerbaijanis from their ancestral lands and bring in Armenians from other countries.

The statement reminds that on 9 April 2012, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed Decree \"On the 20th anniversary of the occupation of Shusha by the Armenia armed forces\", 195 fellow countrymen became martyrs, 165 were wounded and 58 were taken hostage while defending the city on 8 May 1992.

\"Armenian vandals plundered museums having thousands of exhibits, destroyed hundreds of historical-cultural monuments, desecrated holy temples and mosques, annihilated numerous unique manuscripts and ruined educational and health facilities during the invasion of the city.\"

It is also noted that 24,900 people lived in Shusha having 289 square kilometers of area before the invasion.

The document calls on the international community, international organizations to stop the longstanding Armenian aggression, terrorism policy against Azerbaijan and the massive violation of human rights, to support the settlement of the conflict through peace and negotiations, liberation of the occupied lands and the return of hundred thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons to their homes.