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The event co-organized by the Azerbaijani-American Council (AAC) and AYNA Network featured a documentary film on the 1992 Khojaly Massacre by Thomas Goltz, War Correspondent and the Montana State University professor. The presentation was attended by UCI students, members of Olive Tree Initiative, representatives of Azerbaijani and Turkish communities as well as by the Armenian community in Orange County, California. All attendees were provided with a brief AAC fact sheet on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the 1992 Khojaly Massacre.

Opening the presentation, UCI public policy student, Aytan Nabiyeva, introduced the AzSA and its two other co-founders, Rafiga Gurbanzade and Nazilya Gasanova. Nabiyeva emphasized the fact that AzSA-UCI is the first Azerbaijani student organization on the U.S. West Coast. She outlined AzSA-UCI’s interest in promoting Azerbaijan, its culture, history and traditions, across the academic institutions in Southern California

Another AzSA-UCI leader, the UCI Criminology student, Rafiga Gurbanzade, shared the personal story of her family’s expulsion from Karabakh. Gurbanzade’s family hails from the village of Cherekend located on the border of Khojavand (formerly, Hadrut) and Jabrayil regions of Azerbaijan. Rafiga shared the memories of her childhood in Cherekend, where her grandfather and the World War II veteran, Muzaffar Hajiyev, had a family house. When the war reached his home, Hajiyev refused to leave and died shortly before the Armenian occupation in 1993. He was buried in Cherekend, while his wife, who died in Baku in 2011, never got a chance to return to her home. Concluding her personal story, Rafiga Gurbanzade expressed hope that some day she will be able to return to her childhood home in Karabakh and to visit her grandfather’s grave.

Taking the stage next, AAC general director and UCI alumnus, Javid Huseynov, provided a brief overview of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He highlighted that the 1992 Khojaly Massacre and the 1988 Sumgait riots, the two tragic anniversaries marked this week, left significant imprints on collective memories in Azerbaijan and Armenia. But while the Soviet courts tried and sentenced the perpetrators of the Sumgait riots, there has been no justice served to the victims of the war crime by Armenian forces in Khojaly. Dr. Huseynov added that while Armenia denies responsibility for the massacre, Azerbaijani- and Turkish-American communities across the U.S. pursue its recognition. In the last two years, the states of Massachusetts, Texas, Georgia, New Mexico, Arkansas and few others recognized the Khojaly tragedy and the role of Armenian forces in it.

Speaking further, Thomas Goltz shared his experiences as a witness and a first reporter who brought the news of the Khojaly Massacre to the U.S. media. He then proceeded to present his short documentary film featuring interviews with Western journalists, experts and witnesses about the Khojaly tragedy.

During the subsequent question-and-answer session, some Armenian students in the audience questioned the presented material. More specifically, they objected to the fact that Armenian forces were responsible for the massacre. The students referenced Azerbaijani journalist, Eynulla Fatullayev, saying that Armenian forces provided a corridor for the escape of civilians from Khojaly, and argued that they could not have fired on civilians. Few others attempted to justify the massacre by claiming either that the Azerbaijani government failed to evacuate civilians or that it was a response to the alleged shelling of Armenian settlements from Khojaly.

Responding to these questions, the event speakers pointed to the March 1997 response by Human Rights Watch to the Armenian Foreign Ministry reaffirming the fact that Armenian forces deliberately targeted Azerbaijani civilians and that there was no evidence that Azerbaijani forces obstructed the flight of those civilians. Furthermore, the account of the Khojaly Massacre from the diary of Armenian commander and ASALA militant, Monte Melkonyan, and the comments by Armenian President, Serzh Sargsyan, about “breaking the stereotypes” of Azerbaijanis leave no doubts about the primary role of Armenian forces. Thomas Goltz also added that he visited Khojaly in January 1992, few weeks before the massacre, and there were barely 50 Azerbaijani armed defenders without heavy weapons in the town. Therefore, the claim that Armenian settlements were shelled from Khojaly was preposterous.

Some Armenian students asked questioned about the growing negative attitude in Azerbaijani society and the controversy surrounding Akram Aylisli’s book “Stone Dreams”. Responding to that question, AAC executive highlighted that such sentiments in Azerbaijan are a natural consequence and a reaction to the ongoing Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories and the plight of over half a million Azerbaijanis who live in refugee settlements for almost 20 years. One of the Armenian students also expressed interest in learning more about the religious tolerance and relations between various religious congregations in Azerbaijan.

On a positive note, upon the conclusion of the event, some Armenian students approached the speakers thanking for an informative presentation and expressing condolences to the families of victims of Khojaly and other atrocities in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Among other attendees at the presentation were also the president of the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations (ATAA), Ergun Kirlikovali, and representatives of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles. The organizers express gratitude to all who attended and actively participated in this presentation at UCI.

http://www.news.az/articles/politics/77193