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The site goes on revealing the falsifications of Azerbaijani propaganda over the events in Aghdam in 1992. The site made public the former Azerbaijani president Ayaz Mutallibov’s interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkSwiTLShk4 given to the Turkish service of TV channel Al Jazeera. There he speaks about the reasons of Khojalu tragedy, political processes of those times and noteworthy aspects.

Mutallibov’s comments on the events around Khojalu are of particular interest. Remarkably, Azerbaijani ex-president’s thoughts are in tune with those he expressed in his 1992 interview to Nezavisimaya Gazeta (Independent Newspaper) where he blamed those events on his political opponents. See Mutallibov’s words without changes below:

Al Jazeera: The massacre in Khojalu took place during your presidency. Would it be possible to prevent the events in Khojalu?

Ayaz Mutallibov: The events in Khojalu had a really grave influence on the Azerbaijani people. The Azerbaijani people fell under psychological pressure at that time, and those people, wounded, scared, forcefully turned against me incited by the People’s Front. As I was the president, and they told me: why didn’t you protect them?

Al Jazeera: Why didn’t you protect them?

Ayaz Mutallibov: How was I to protect them? Were we fighting in Karabakh? And Khojalu was situated in Karabakh. Could we enter Karabakh? No.

Al Jazeera: Why couldn’t you enter Karabakh? Wasn’t there enough support, armed forces?

Ayaz Mutallibov: There was, there was everything. Put in other words, the aim was to cross the border of Aghdam district, neighboring Askeran. To protect the refugees it was just necessary to get in front of them there, we had everything.

Al Jazeera: Why didn’t you succeed?

Ayaz Mutallibov: Because there was race for power (cannot conceal anger – note). The worse for Mutallibov, the better for the political structures opposing Mutallibov. Yes, yes… that is what our national concept is. Yes…

It is noteworthy that Mutallibov tricks in an attempt to convince the reader that there was no access to Karabakh. Shushi was in Karabakh as well; still Azerbaijani troops were deployed there and from there daily shelled Stepanakert full of women and children, including refugees who had lost their homes as a result of another ‘non-military’ operation - Ring. The Azerbaijani militarized formations not only ‘could’, but they also repeatedly entered Karabakh intending to exterminate the Armenian population.

On February 26, 1992, during the war in Karabakh, around 200 to 300 people (according to Human Rights Watch, and 600 according to the version propagated by Azerbaijan) were killed in unknown circumstances near the city of Aghdam. They have been deliberately withheld by the Azerbaijani authorities in the midst of the military actions. Population of the village of Khojalu, which was one of the firing points shooting at the blockaded Stepanakert (among five others) was kept in the village for months by force and was not evacuated by the authorities of Azerbaijan deliberately, in order to use them as human shields later.

Residents of Khojalu coming out through the humanitarian corridor, that the self-defense forces of NKR had left open, freely passed more than 10 km and reached the Aghdam city controlled by the Azerbaijani troops. Later, not far from the positions of Azerbaijani troops dead bodies of the villagers were found. The exact death toll remains unknown as the official Baku publishes data contradicting each other. Parliamentary Commission investigating the tragic death of the civilians at Aghdam city was dissolved by the order of Heydar Aliyev, the investigative materials are kept secret.