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In connection with the anniversary of the Aghdam events taken place in 1992 the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar has issued a statement in which he noted that any man's death is a tragedy, and the human-life losses from both sides at the Karabakh war remind that no military solution can be given to the conflict.

"Only a long and peaceful settlement can lead to stability, prosperity and reconciliation in the region. As a Minsk Group co-chair, the United States remains firmly committed to working together with the parties in order to achieve peace," the statement of the ambassador, published on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan, reads.

In its turn, the Azerbaijani news agency "Salamnews" ascribed background of its article to the Ambassador. The background reflected Azerbaijani version of Aghdam events. According to the agency, "the statement reads ..." about the Armenians’ guilt in these events, however there is nothing like that in Ambassador’s original statement posted on the Embassy's website.

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.

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