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Why the massacre matters been besieged by the Armenian units for four fact that this was the biggest death toll in any months before the actual assault. At the time one day of the conflict is obviously important, of the storming, several thousand inhabitants but it was the hideous nature of the attacks One of the principal functions of diploma- of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons On the night of 26 February 1992, 613 ci- still remained, many of whom were the sick, which made Khojaly symbolic of the more cy is to prevent conflicts from breaking out, is growing stronger. Unless some progress is vilians, including old men, women and chil- injured, old, women and children – all those than 30,000 who died in the Nagorno-Kara- or to bring them to a swift conclusion when made on the diplomatic front, their frustra- dren, were massacred in one of the late 20th who had been unable to flee before the siege. bakh conflict from 1988–94. And, of course, they do. When the disintegrated tion could boil over, leading to instability century’s most brutal and horrific attacks. it is vital to remember that civilians and sol- in the late 1980s, diplomacy succeeded in across the South Caucasus. Sadly, the crimes committed, despite their The rare reports, photos and footage taken diers are still dying on the line of contact to preventing bloodshed in some former Soviet horrendous nature, were largely ignored by by Western journalists, such as Anatol Lieven this day. states – but sadly failed to do so in others. The darkest day of all for Western governments and the Western media (The Times) and Thomas Goltz (Washington was commemorated during February, on the at the time. Post) at the scene of the massacre, shed light And the Khojaly Massacre matters most When invaded 18 per cent of Azer- twentieth anniversary of the Khojaly Mas- on this war crime. Those killed were subjected of all, because the man who proudly boasted baijani territory in 1988, the world took notice, sacre. At a time when major news channels The Khojaly Massacre occurred during to atrocities unimaginable in a civilised society. about the ‘strategic’ significance of this brutal and the UN Security Council passed four reso- and publications in the West are filled with the armed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, Among those slaughtered were 116 women attack is now a Head of State. As reported by lutions ordering Armenia to desist from its ag- stories and images of violence and suffering a region inside with a substantial and 83 children. But the international cover- the British scholar and writer Thomas de Waal gression and withdraw its troops. But Armenia of people in Syria and other conflict zones, ethnic Armenian population. After capturing age did not attract sufficient attention from in his acclaimed book , dealing ignored the UN then, and is still flouting its will it is tempting to dismiss events that occurred most of the region and expelling the ethnic the European governments at the time, and with the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, the by continuing to occupy these lands. decades ago and to question the wisdom Azerbaijani inhabitants, the Armenian forces, Western media outlets quickly turned their at- current Armenian President of reviving old memories and scratching old assisted by the Soviet Army’s 366th motorised tentions to other major conflict zones of the who was, at the time, one of the command- Now diplomacy, through the UN, the EU wounds. What happened 20 years ago in the regiment (which was then deployed in the era, such as the Balkans, and then Rwanda. ers of the ethnic Armenian forces, explained The OSCE Minsk Group peace process, and the OSCE, has another chance to avert Azerbaijani town of Khojaly, however, con- regional capital of Khankendi), carried out a So whereas the violence and ethnic cleansing the reasoning behind the attack: “Before charged with negotiating peace between conflict. As Azerbaijan commemorates a tinues to matter. It mattered then, and still brutal massacre of the Azerbaijani popula- which occurred in those regions became very Khojaly, the Azerbaijanis thought that they Armenia and Azerbaijan, has been under- series of dark anniversary dates, the anger matters now. tion in the town of Khojaly. The town had well-known in the West, the vast majority of were joking with us, they thought that the way for 18 years, and has achieved negligi- the world’s population knows nothing about were people who could not raise ble progress. The EU needs to engage in the Khojaly, or about the Azerbaijani–Armenian their hand against the civilian population. peace process, and bring its considerable conflict which continues to this day. We were able to break that [stereotype]. And economic, diplomatic and moral muscle to that's what happened”. bear. The South Caucasus serves as the cross- The massacre in Khojaly was nothing less roads between east and west. The outbreak than ethnic cleansing, a precursor of other Of course, all such incidents and tragedies of outright hostilities between Azerbaijan and similar crimes. These criminal acts were un- have to be put in context. At the time, the Armenia would add to the turmoil of what is dertaken with the aim of frightening the Soviet Union was breaking up, and the periph- already an unstable region in Europe’s back- Azerbaijanis – not just the military but also eral regions of that once mighty empire were yard. civilians – into losing the will to resist, thereby in turmoil. The eyes of the world were fixed facilitating further victories. The lawyers of on the former Yugoslavia, where hundreds of The United Nations intervened when the the international organisation Human Rights thousands of civilians were being ethnically original conflict broke out. The UN Security Watch have classified the tragedy in Khojaly cleansed – evicted, brutalised and killed. Council has passed four resolutions calling as a “massacre”, and the bloodbath among on Armenia to stop the killings and withdraw the civilian population as a “war crime”. The The European Union has had its problems from sovereign Azerbaijani territory. Those same opinion was shared by the Moscow- in recent years. The economic downturn has resolutions were ignored at the time, and based human-rights centre . exposed flaws in the single currency, and they remain unimplemented to this day. As a caused political tensions within and between result, there are more refugees and Internally The Khojaly Massacre matters because the member states. But these difficulties are Displaced Persons in Azerbaijan than any- those civilians were in the process of fleeing transient, and will be solved as economies where else in Europe or on Europe’s borders. their homes when they were killed. They had revive. The main benefit of the EU – its raison been warned about the consequences of d’être, some would say – is that it has brought So that is why the Khojaly Massacre staying by the Armenian and Soviet forces, peace and democracy to states that, in the matters, and why its killing fields should not had been offered a safe corridor out, and none-too-distant past, were at war, or suf- be forgotten. These tragic events may have reluctantly decided to leave. That promised fered under dictatorships. occurred 20 years ago, but the survivors still safe passage, however, turned into the killing mourn, and the refugees and Internally Dis- fields of Khojaly. Despite the difficulties and distractions that placed Persons still long to return to their the EU currently faces, it should not ignore homes. 20 years of talk and tension are too It also matters because of the methods conflicts and injustices amongst its near much. The deadlock must be broken, and the used to kill the 613 victims. They were shelled, neighbours. Caucasian states are members of EU – along with the UN and the OSCE – can shot, and battered – and butchered even after the EU’s Eastern Partnership, and they need play a vital role in ensuring that there are no death, as many graphic images testify. The and deserve support. more Khojalys and no more massacres.