Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan states that Aghdam events of 1992 ‘‘are not possible to call genocide’’
The Aghdam events taken place in 1992 cannot be called genocide, said Ambassador of Turkey to Azerbaijan Ismail Alper Coskun to Azerbaijani media.
According to Azerbaijani Information agency APA during the “Manshet” telecast on APA TV the Turkish ambassador stated that due to the fact that there is no a court decision on Khojaly genocide, to name it genocide officially is not possible.
In Azerbaijan they try to name the Aghdam events taken place in 1992 "Khojalu genocide."
On February 26, 1992, during the war in Karabakh, around 200 to 300 people (according to Human Rights Watch, and 600 according to the version propagated by Azerbaijan) were killed in unknown circumstances near the city of Aghdam. They have been deliberately withheld by the Azerbaijani authorities in the midst of the military actions. Population of the village of Khojalu, which was one of the firing points shooting at the blockaded Stepanakert (among five others) was kept in the village for months by force and was not evacuated by the authorities of Azerbaijan deliberately, in order to use them as human shields later.
Residents of Khojalu coming out through the humanitarian corridor, that the self-defense forces of NKR had left open, freely passed more than 10 km and reached the Aghdam city controlled by the Azerbaijani troops. Later, not far from the positions of Azerbaijani troops dead bodies of the villagers were found. The exact death toll remains unknown as the official Baku publishes data contradicting each other.
Parliamentary Commission investigating the tragic death of the civilians at Aghdam city was dissolved by the order of Heydar Aliyev, the investigative materials are kept secret.
Documentary: Between hunger and fire: Power at the expenses of lives.