Statement of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on the occasion of Genocide Day

Baku/31.03.22/Turan: Azerbaijani MFA issued statement on the occasion of the Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis - 31 March.

In March-April of 1918 Dashnak-Bolshevik groups acting under mandate of Baku Council with special cruelty committed massacre of Azerbaijanis in Baku, as well as other cities and regions of Baku province. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed because of their ethnic and religious affiliation.

The Commissar for the Caucasus of Soviet Russia Stepan Shaumyan, an ethnic Armenian, admitted that six thousand armed soldiers of the Baku Soviet and four thousand members of the Armenian nationalist party "Dashnaksutun" took part in these crimes.

The genocide against Azerbaijanis covered not only Baku, but also Shamakha, Guba, Iravan, Zangezur, Karabakh, Nakhchivan and the Kars region.

During the first five months of 1918 over 16 thousand people were killed with particular cruelty only in Guba. A mass grave discovered in this area in 2007 is a clear evidence of Armenian crimes.

"The Government of the People's Republic of Azerbaijan set up in 1918 an Extraordinary Investigation Commission to investigate these crimes and bring the revealed facts to the world community.

In particular, criminal cases were initiated against 194 people accused of various crimes against civilians.  Twenty-four people were arrested in Baku and about 100 in Shamakha.  However, after the fall of the ADR government, the investigation was stopped.

An objective assessment of these tragic events was given after the restoration of Azerbaijan's independence. According to the decree of the President of Azerbaijan dated March 26, 1998, March 31 was declared as the Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis.

The statement also points out that Armenia continued committing crimes against Azerbaijanis on national ground during the 30-year aggression. One million Azerbaijanis became victims of ethnic cleansing in Armenia and in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Armenia committed numerous war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide, including the Khojaly genocide in February 1992. During the 44-day war, Armenian armed forces deliberately struck civilians in Ganja, Barda, Terter and other cities of Azerbaijan with rockets.

"Azerbaijan on its part will take all necessary legal measures to ensure peace and to put an end to Armenia's impunity," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry statement concluded. -03В06-