Khojaly Genocide Day

On 26 February 1992, during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, Armenian Armed Forces and 366th CIS regiment massacred as high as 613 ethnic Azerbaijani civilians in the town of Khojaly. This incident was known as the Khojaly massacre.[8][10][11] Although the Azerbaijani sources[12][13] occasionally refer to the massacre as a genocide (Azerbaijani: Xocalı soyqırımı) or a tragedy (Xocalı faciəsi),[6] the Western governments and media uses "Khojaly massacre" to refer to the incident.[14]

The Khojaly massacre was described by Human Rights Watch as "the largest massacre to date in the conflict" over Nagorno-Karabakh.[7] A 1993 report by Human Rights Watch put the number of deaths at least 161,[15] although later reports state the number of deaths as at least 200. According to Human Rights Watch, "while it is widely accepted that 200 Azeris were murdered, as many as 500–1,000 may have died".[7] Initially, the Azerbaijani parliament was able to identify 485 people as the victims of the massacre,[8] but later official figures stated that 613 civilians were killed.[9]

On 24 February 1994, the National Assembly of Azerbaijan issued to declare 26 February as the "day of mourning for the victims of the Khojaly events, one of the national tragedies of the Azerbaijani people and one of the bloodiest pages in human history."[5] On 25 February 1997, the President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, issued a decree to declare a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the Khojaly massacre.[16]