“Khojaly. Genocide of the 20th century” book presented to Japan’s Sasakawa Peace Foundation

Tokyo, March 3, AZERTAC E-book version of the “Khojaly. Genocide of the 20th century” book, a joint project of the socio-political affairs department of the Presidential Administration and Azerbaijan State Information Agency (AZERTAC) was presented to the Japan’s Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF). The digital version of the book translated into English by Azerbaijan-Japan Friendship Center was also presented to the Foundation. Speaking of the book, AZERTAC’s correspondent in Japan Vugar Agayev said that the facts, figures and information featured in the book were taken from reliable sources. “The book came out in Azerbaijani, English, Russian, German, French and Arabic languages, and features a list of Khojaly victims and photos’, Agayev added. “As many as 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people were killed as a result of the massacre. A total of 1,000 civilians became disabled in the onslaught. Eight families were completely annihilated, 130 children lost one parent, while 25 lost both parents. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people (68 women, 26 children) still remains unknown. In terms of its level and horrible consequences, the Khojaly massacre was committed not only against the people of Azerbaijan but also against the whole humanity. The damage inflicted to Azerbaijan as a result of the Khojaly genocide is estimated at 140 million manats’. “The book emphasizes that the Azerbaijani state and government, Heydar Aliyev Foundation and other non-governmental organizations, Diaspora structures undertake important steps towards making the Khojaly tragedy known to a larger number of countries worldwide and its recognition as an act of genocide. After returning to power, national leader Heydar Aliyev defined guidelines of the activity in this direction”. “The important role in international recognition of the Khojaly tragedy as the genocide was played by the “Justice for Khojaly” international campaign initiated in 2009 by Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva. As a result of the campaign being successfully conducted in tens of world countries, parliamentary delegations of many countries recognized the Khojaly tragedy as genocide on an international scale,” the book says. V. Agayev expressed confidence that the edition with the Japanese language attachment will play important role to bring the truth about the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict to the Japanese community.