'Crime against humanity': Türkiye marks 31st anniversary of Khojaly massacre

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) – The 1992 Khojaly massacre was a “crime against humanity,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday.

“We condemn the murder of our Azerbaijani brothers in Khojaly 31 years ago, and we once again commemorate our martyrs with mercy,” Cavusoglu said in a tweet on the 31st anniversary of the violent attack in which hundreds of Azerbaijani citizens were killed by Armenian forces.

“We have not forgotten the crime against humanity committed in Khojaly, we will not forget,” he said, emphasizing that Türkiye shares Azerbaijan’s pain.

More than 600 people were killed in one of Armenia’s bloodiest assaults on Azerbaijani civilians in the Karabakh region.

Armenian forces took over the town of Khojaly on Feb. 26, 1992 after battering it with heavy artillery and tanks, assisted by an infantry regiment.

The two-hour Armenian offensive killed 613 Azerbaijani people, including 106 women and 63 children, and critically injured 487 others.

In a separate statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the fate of those who disappeared after the massacre is still unknown.

According to Azerbaijani figures, some 150 of the 1,275 Azerbaijanis captured by the Armenians remain missing.

“We still feel the pain of our Azerbaijani brothers, who were murdered in Khojaly 31 years ago, in our hearts. We condemn this crime against humanity, which has gone down in history as a black mark,” the ministry said. ​​​​​​​