Event held in Houston to mark 26th anniversary of Khojaly genocide

An event has been held at the University of Houston in Texas to mark the 26th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide. The event was co-organized by the Houston-Baku Sister City Association, the Azerbaijan Center and the Azerbaijan-Israel Friendship Society, with the support of the Azerbaijani Embassy in the US.

The Azerbaijani Embassy in the US told OBZOR.az that the event was held within the framework of the Justice for Khojaly campaign.

Teachers and students of the university, representatives of the Azerbaijani community living in Houston as well as representatives of the local community attended the event. The authors of the "Black Snowdrops" book Efim Abramov (Israel) and Leila Begim (Czech Republic) also participated in the event.

The event's opening speech was made by James Ortiz, the university's deputy rector for global strategy and research. He underlined the importance of the Azerbaijan-US and Houston-Baku cooperation, stressing the university’s attention to this issue by hosting this event. Director of the Azerbaijan Center and President of the Houston-Baku Sister City Association (HBSCA) Irada Akhundova noted that the Khojaly genocide is an unforgettable event for every Azerbaijani and that the world community should constantly be informed about this tragedy.

Vugar Gurbanov, advisor to the Azerbaijan embassy in the US, emphasized during his speech that the Khojaly massacre was committed to break the Azerbaijani people and state’s will and that Azerbaijan’s other occupied territories were occupied under the same scenario after the Khojaly massacre but this did not break the will of the Azerbaijani people and the state, that with the Azerbaijani people’s support the state’s integrity would be restored and that they will respond to those who committed the massacre in the face of justice. To reach this goal more quickly, the embassy representative called on all the Azerbaijanis living in the United States to come together more closely.

L. Begim, co-author of the book, said that this work was devoted to the victims of the ethnic cleansing campaign against Azerbaijanis and followed by a poem dedicated to the victims of the massacre.

Lev Spivak, director general of the Israel-Azerbaijan International Association, spoke about the Azerbaijani-Israeli relations and gave detailed information about their activities regarding the Khojaly tragedy. Some parts of the "Black Snow Drops" book were also read during the event.

At the end of the event, wide discussions were held on further activities on introducing the Khojaly genocide.