BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 24. The memory of the Khojaly genocide victims was honored in The Hague, Netherlands, the statement of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora of Azerbaijan says, Trend reports.
The commemoration ceremony was organized by the Dutch-Azerbaijani Turkish Cultural Association with the support of the Azerbaijani Diaspora Support Fund under the State Committee on Work with the Diaspora.
The attendees included the Dutch public representatives, representatives of the Azerbaijani and Turkish communities in the Netherlands, and members of the Dutch coordination of the Coordination Council of Azerbaijanis in the Benelux countries.
The participants first laid wreaths at the Khojaly genocide memorial in The Hague's "Nieuw Eykenduynen" cemetery and observed a minute of silence to honor the victims.
The ceremony speakers were Azerbaijani Ambassador to the Netherlands, Mammad Ahmadzade, Ambassador of Türkiye to the Netherlands, Fatma Ceren Yazgan, Turkish MP Samil Ayrim, the Executive Director of the Fund for Support to Azerbaijani Diaspora, Akram Abdullayev, Advisor to the President of the Federation of Turkish-Azerbaijani Associations (TADEF), Parviz Mammadzade, The Deputy Chairman of the Hague City Municipality, Saskia Bruines, a representative of the Foundation Interreligious Council Segbroek, Bart ten Broek, Chairman of the Benelux Azerbaijanis Congress, Coordinator of the Coordination Council of Azerbaijanis in the Benelux Countries for the Netherlands, Elsevar Mammadov, and Chairman of the Dutch-Azerbaijani Turkish Cultural Association, Ilhan Askin, delivered speeches.
The speeches noted that although 34 years have passed since the Khojaly genocide committed against the Azerbaijani people and humanity as a whole on the night of February 25-26, 1992, this tragedy has not been forgotten. The history of the massacre committed against the civilian population that night and its terrible consequences were discussed. It was emphasized that the date of February 26 is written in bloody letters in the memory of the Azerbaijani people, and the importance of giving legal and political assessment to the Khojaly genocide was brought to attention.
Then, an address to the participants of the event was read by researcher and writer Henry van Rens, author of the book "Black Clouds over Karabakh."
A short documentary film titled "The Badge of Khojaly" was screened as part of the event. A photo exhibition dedicated to the victims of the Khojaly genocide by students of the "Kharibulbul" school operating under the Dutch-Azerbaijani Turkish Cultural Association was shown, and sad music was played by kamancha player Emin Sadigli.
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