Strengthening Pak, Azerbaijan ties stressed

Islamabad : Speakers at a seminar here on Thursday stressed to further strengthen the bilateral relations by cooperating with each other at the regional and international levels and promoting bilateral cooperation in other fields including military, education, trade and other fields while keeping in view the ground realities.

Muslim Institute and the Azerbaijani Embassy in Islamabad jointly organized the seminar on "Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: A Crime against Humanity, the 30th Anniversary of the Khujaly genocide" The speaker said Khojaly genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh is a dark chapter in human history: Speakers Genocide in Khojaly, Kashmir and Myanmar demand justice.

Among the speakers were Federal Minister for Food Security and Research, Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan, Dewan of Junagadh and Chairman Muslim Institute Sahibzada Sultan Ahmed Ali, Ambassador of Turkey Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul, Ambassador of Azerbaijan Khazar Farhadov and Vice Chancellor, Quaid-e-Azam University Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ali Shah.

The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh was one of the most contentious issues of the twentieth century. Armenian nationalists have been following a policy of ethnic cleansing of the Azerbaijani people for the last 200 years. From 1948-to 1953, around 150,000 Azerbaijanis were deported from Armenia. Similarly, in 1988, 250,000 Azerbaijanis were forced out from their historical territories thereby leaving Armenia a mono-ethnic state.

The Khojaly genocide - the unforgettable tragedy of the 20th century - was a result of the aggressive and criminal policy of Armenia. Undoubtedly, this genocide was a historical crime against humanity. In February 1992, Armenian forces reportedly seized the Azeri-populated town of Khojaly. Armenian militants started the massacre of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh. In this massacre 613 innocent Azerbaijanis, including 106 women and 83 children, were massacred. The speakers further said that remembering the martyrs creates stability in the nations. At the same time, the narrative of the oppressor needs to be challenged, otherwise the atrocities in Indian Illegal Occupied Kashmir, Myanmar and other regions cannot be stopped.