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24 years ago on April 10, 1992, the village of Maragha in Mardakert region of Nagorno Karabakh was ruthlessly attacked by the Azerbaijani troops, without any immediate military necessity, and its civilian population massacred. Maragha has been one of the worst atrocities of the First War between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

The savaged bodies of Armenians in Maragha were left in the area for days. The Azeri troops showed mercy to no one – the children, women and the elderly were tortured, beheaded and bodies dismembered. Then the village was set ablaze by the Azeri special forces.

Those that were “luckier”, were taken hostage and tortures continued on the Azerbaijani soil. It took years to return those very few who survived inhuman treatment by the Azerbaijani authorities.

Needless to say, that no one has been punished for this egregious crime against the humankind, yet.

Few years ago a special website was launched – www.maragha.org - that now presents documentary evidence of the horrific tragedy in Maragha. The website also published the names of those who were brutally killed in the village 24 years ago, as well as names and stories of those that were taken hostage and exchanged on later stages of the war. Overall, of all the hostages seven had been returned, 22 - exchanged, one - escaped from captivity, one - ransomed, nine – killed in captivity, while the destiny of 23 residents is still unknown. http://maragha.org/lists.html

The authors of the “Ordinary Genocide: Maragha. April 10, 1992” documentary, produced with the support of the Information and Public Relations Center of the Office to the President of the Republic of Armenia in the Fall of 2010, piled up all the relevant files, including eyewitness testimonies, and released the first ever inclusive report on one of the least discussed and most bloody crimes in the Karabakh War of 1992-1994.



24 years later, during the unprecedented military offensive of April 2-5, 2016, a crime of similar gravity was committed by the Azerbaijani army servicemen in the village of Talish, in the same Mardakert region of Nagorno Karabakh Republic. Three members of elderly family were brutally executed in their own house and their ears cut.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry claimed “war crimes” were committed and other gross violations of international humanitarian law took place at the hands of the Azerbaijani military during the Four Day War of April 2-5, 2016.

#Azerbaijan's aggression agnst #NK was accompanied w/gross violations of Int #HumanRights Law & Int #HumanitarianLaw pic.twitter.com/iJ2Djawcn7

— MFA of Armenia (@MFAofArmenia) April 8, 2016

The Defense Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh Republic reported in multiple instances the use of indiscriminate weaponry by Azerbaijan.

Over the night, #Azerbaijan used “Smerch” multiple launch rocket system in South.
It shelled settlements & strongholds.
We downed a drone.

— Karabakh MOD (@Karabakh_MoD) April 5, 2016

The Foreign Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh Republic unearthed the graphic images of the massacred family members from Talish village.

24 y. after #Maragha massacre (10 April, 1992) #Azerbaijan tried to repeat the same crime in #Talish #Karabakh pic.twitter.com/WZJXUuKZRL

— Karabakh MFA (@mfankr) April 10, 2016

In the worst battle of the Four Day War in Talish, an Armenian soldier of Yezidi ethnic background was also killed in the same area, beheaded and head taken across the border by the Azerbaijani soldiers to show in public as an act of heroism (video footage uploaded online later on).

The future crimes of these Azeri gangs had only been prevented thanks to the timely and selfless actions of the soldiers of Defense Army of Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

According to media reports and press statements, the authorities of Nagorno Karabakh are planning to reach out to international courts with the evidence gathered about the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the so-called Four Day War of April 2-5, 2016.