Turkish speaker blasts Armenia's 1992 Khojaly massacre

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's speaker of parliament denounced the Khojaly massacre against Azerbaijani civilians on its 28th anniversary, as well as the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia.

"Despite agreements on international law, those who took part in the Khojaly massacre have not been punished, which causes deep pangs of conscience of humanity," Mustafa Sentop said in a statement.

Sentop called on the international community to place the due importance on the Khojaly massacre.

"It is clear that the pain of the sacrifices of the Khojaly massacre should be understood by the nations of the entire world," he asserted.

He added: "As Turkey, we are forever utterly determined on standing with Azerbaijan for Armenia's retreat from occupied Azerbaijani territories."

The 1992 Khojaly Massacre is seen as one of the bloodiest incidents committed by Armenian forces against Azerbaijani civilians for control of the now-occupied Upper Karabakh region.

The two-hour Armenian offensive killed 613 Azerbaijani citizens -- including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly -- and critically injured 487 others, according to Azerbaijani figures.

Also, 150 of the 1,275 Azerbaijanis that the Armenians captured during the massacre remain missing. In the massacre, eight families were completely wiped out, while 130 children lost one parent, and 25 children lost both of them.