Turkish PM: Perpetrators of Khojaly massacre should answer before law

Perpetrators of the Khojaly tragedy should answer before the law, Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in a statement on the 26th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, Turkish media reported Feb. 26.

Despite that 26 years pass since the Khojaly massacre, those who committed this bloody tragedy haven’t yet answered before the law, he added.

Armenia’s occupation policy has driven more than one million people out of their homes, he said.

"We strongly condemn the occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories by Armenia and once again stress that we are always with Azerbaijan.”

On Feb. 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops, stationed in Khankendi, committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As many as 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people were killed in the massacre. Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people still remains unknown.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.