Eduard Sharmazanov: “Azerbaijani authorities distort the reality”.

The Azerbaijani authorities, misrepresenting the reality for years, come up with false statements in connection with Khojalu events. The day before the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made such a statement, putting the whole legal-political responsibility of Khojalu tragic events on the current authorities of Armenia and Artsakh. We present the RA National Assembly Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov’s comment in this regard:

“As at that time Aliyev was not in a war field, but he was busy with the prosperity of his own business in Istanbul, would hardly know the whole reality on the painful events of Khojalu. The reality is the following: for many months Stepanakert was pelt from Khojalu weapon emplacements day and night, and the neutralization of the military base for the local Armenians was a life and death issue. During the liberation operation of Khojalu the sub-divisions of the NKR self-defense forces left a corridor for the peaceful population of Khojalu for safely leaving the military operations zone, about which the Azerbaijani side was warned beforehand.

Ayaz Mutalibov, former President of Azerbaijan, told the “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” newspaper after one month of his resignation: “The corridor, by which people could leave, was, nevertheless, left by the Armenians. In that case, why they were to shoot. Especially, in the territory nearby Aghdam, where at that time there was a sufficient force to go out and help people.”

And ten years after his resignation Mutalibov in his interview to the newspaper “Novoye Vremya” has noted: “It’s obvious that the shooting of the Khojalu people was organized by somebody for the shift of power in Azerbaijan.”

By the way, Azerbaijani lawyer Arif Yunusov in July 1992 told the newspaper “Zerkalo” that “the city and its residents deliberately sacrificed their lives for the political purpose.” And Tamerlan Karayev, former Speaker of the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan, on April 28, 1992 informed the newspaper “Mukhalifat” that “the Azerbaijani authorities were in charge of the tragedy.”

The above mentioned facts unequivocally testify that the Azerbaijani side is to be guilty for the death of Khojalu peaceful residents, which is a heinous crime committed towards its own people for the sake of political intrigues and for power struggle.”