By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo
On the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan organized the 2nd symposium hosted in the Yongsan Art Hall on February 26, 2025.
The event was co-organized by the Korea-Azerbaijan Association of Daegu-Gyeongbuk and EdunietyLab of Korea. The high-level event was attended by numerous ambassadors and representatives of embassies, scholars of Korean universities, journalists, as well as diverse actors of cultural, academic-scientific and humanitarian relations between Azerbaijan and Korea.
Delivering his welcoming speech, H.E. Ramin Hasanov, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan said, “Commemoration of the innocent victims of the Khojaly genocide is on one hand, an action of solidarity with hundreds of people, who have been suffering from serious injuries, or mental wounds of losing their parents, siblings, children and other beloved ones in Khojaly, on the other hand, an appeal to the humankind to never allow this to happen again.”
He pointed out that several suspects of the Khojaly genocide are sitting in custody today and facing trial, while referring to Azerbaijan’s glorious victory during the Patriotic War in 2020 and restoration its sovereignty over the territories formerly occupied by Armenia. Ambassador urged the international community to unite in favor of legal conviction of all war criminals.
February 26, 2025 marks the 33rd anniversary of the genocide committed by the Armenian armed forces in Khojaly during Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan that had resulted in occupation of one-fifth of the Azerbaijani territories and ethnic cleansing of more than one million Azerbaijanis.
Before the genocide, 7,000 people lived in Khojaly city of Garabagh region of Azerbaijan. Over the night of the 25 to 26 February 1992, following massive artillery bombardment of the city, the Armenian armed forces with the help of the infantry guards regiment No. 366 of the former USSR, implemented the seizure of Khojaly. Invaders destroyed Khojaly and implemented brutal massacres of its civilian population.
As a result of the Khojaly genocide, 5379 inhabitants of the city were forcefully expelled, 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 elderly, brutally murdered, 8 families were completely destroyed, 487 were injured, 1275 were captured and taken hostage (the fate of 150 hostages, including 68 women and 26 children, remains unknown to date).
The former President of Armenia Serzh Sarkisyan, who was involved in Khojaly massacre as a warlord leading the illegal Armenian combatants in Garabagh, admitted in his interview with the British journalist and researcher Thomas de Wall that the massacre against Azerbaijani people in Khojaly was a deliberate and planned action.
According to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 1948, the massacre in Khojaly is to be classified as a genocide since the residents of this city were ssystematically and deliberately murdered as a national, ethnic or religious group.
The national legislative bodies of 16 countries, as well as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation adopted resolutions and declarations on condemning in strongest terms the massacre of civilian population in Khojaly and recognizing the tragedy of Khojaly as an act of genocide and crime against humanity.
The event continued with panel discussions which were moderated by the Korean journalist and publisher of The Korea Global Times, Cho Joy, during which the speakers condemned the brutal crime against Azerbaijani people in Khojaly and conveyed their deep regret for a big number of innocent victims.
The youngest panelist of the event, master student of the Seoul National University Lim Myeong-Mook, who wrote commentaries about the political affairs in South Caucasus including the long-lasted conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, referred to his memories on commemoration of the Khojaly genocide during his study visit to Azerbaijan last year.
The panelists discussed about the possible contributions to restoration of peaceful co-existence and cooperation among the nations of the South Caucasus region while highlighting the big potential for Republic of Korea’s engagement with the regional countries. Some of the them stressed the significance of promoting Azerbaijan’s presence in Korea for bilateral relations between the two countries.
Head of Department of Turkish-Azerbaijani Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Professor Oh Chong-Jin evaluated the level of public interest, in particular of young Koreans, in Azerbaijan, as well as his Department’s engagement to raise the public awareness about Azerbaijan in Korea.
Assistant Professor of Department of Multicultural Education at Inha University Dr. Oh Young-Sub, highlighting the rich multiculturalism traditions of Azerbaijani people, shared his observations on how multicultural competences of Azerbaijani students of Inha University promote their achievements in education.
Korean novelist, winner of numerous awards including the Newcomer Excellence Award in the poetry from Si Munhak, the 10th Jeju 4·3 Peace Literature Award and the New Year Literary Contest, Yoo Sujin, who translated Azerbaijani tales into Korean language revealed the reasons of her inspiration for Azerbaijani literature.
EdunietyLab CEO Lee Keeteack and Head of the Research Institute Dr. Lim Sung Hee talked about the projects their institution implemented in educational domain in Azerbaijan and announced their interest for further cooperation.
