Idaho became the 21^st State in the United States to recognize the Khojaly massacre and honor its innocent victims.

The Governor of the U.S. State of Idaho C.L. “Butch” Otter proclaimed February 26 to be the “Khojaly Remembrance Day” in Idaho.

The Khojaly genocide is one of the most terrible and tragic pages of the Azerbaijani history. In February 1992, Armenia’s armed forces attacked the Khojaly town in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region, killing 613 Azerbaijani civilians, including some 300 children, women and elderly. The Human Rights Watch called the massacre “the largest massacre in the Karabakh conflict.”

The proclamation, which has been received by the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, notes that “on February 25-26, 1992, the population of Khojaly was subjected to a massacre, resulting in the deaths of more than 600 innocent civilians, including many women, children and elderly”.

“The events in Khojaly are a sobering reminder of the terrible damage that can be inflicted in wartime and the enduring need for greater understanding, communication, and tolerance among people around the world, “ it reads.

Stating that “Azerbaijanis living in Idaho and around the globe observe February 26 every year as a day of remembrance, honoring the victims of the Khojaly massacre”, Governor Otter proclaims February 26 to be the “Khojaly Remembrance Day” in Idaho.

The proclamation was co-signed by Lawerence Denney, the Secretary of the State of Idaho. This is the first official document on the Khojaly massacre issued in Idaho.

The legislative bodies of many countries have already adopted resolutions recognizing the crime committed by Armenians against the peaceful people in Khojaly as genocide.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) adopted a final Cairo Communiqué in February 2013, during a summit held in Egypt’s capital, calling the Khojaly tragedy as genocide against humanity. The Communiqué calls on the international community to recognize the tragedy as genocide.

AzerNews