Arizona House of Representatives passes a proclamation condemning the Khojaly Genocide

Arizona State House of Representatives passed a proclamation on February 23, 2017 recognizing and condemning the Khojaly Genocide, which was committed by Armenia’s army against Azerbaijani civilians in 1992 fleeing the town of Khojaly in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Read by the House Appropriation Committee Chairman Rep. Don Shooter on the House Floor, the proclamation was presented to Azerbaijan’s Consul General in Los Angeles Nasimi Aghayev. As a sign of respect for the innocent victims of the Khojaly Genocide, all legislators listened to the proclamation standing.

The proclamation says that on February 25 and 26, 1992, Armenian armed forces occupied the town of Khojaly in Azerbaijan and “killed more than six hundred civilians, wounded more than one thousand civilians; and captured more than one thousand two hundred civilians”.

The document further states: “Documenting this mass killing the Human Rights Watch called it the “largest massacre in the conflict”; major United States and international news organizations reported about the killings with horror; and numerous governments around the world as well as State Legislatures and Governors of 20 U.S. States passed resolutions/proclamations condemning the attack”.

The proclamation specifically mentions that the “perpetrators of this genocide are still at large and have not been brought to justice yet”.

“Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan are still running high because Armenian army continues to occupy twenty percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory, in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the surrounding seven districts”, the document continues.

It also mentions that “resolutions condemning the occupation of Azerbaijan’s territory by Armenian forces have been passed by the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly”.

The proclamation concludes by stating that the Arizona State House of Representatives honors the victims of the Khojaly tragedy, and recognizes February 26, 2017, as the 25th Anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy.

It should be noted that this is the second official document on Khojaly adopted by the Arizona State Legislature. The first document was passed by the upper chamber of the Legislature – the Arizona State Senate - on February 26, 2015.

The video of the proclamaton’s adoption can be viewed here: