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wards Azerbaij anis by Armenians, were submitt ed to the Heydar 
Aliyev Foundation to be used in the work of “Genocide Memorial 
Complex” and disseminate to international community. 
Within the project of HeydarAliyevFoundation “the Address of 
Tolerance: Azerbaij an” reconstruction of Juma mosque, burned by 
Armenians in 1918, is one of the positive measures taken in resto-
ration of historical justice. Special att ention of the President of the 
Republic of Azerbaij an, Ilham Aliyev, to reconstruction of Juma 
mosque, along with other monuments, is the care taken towards 
the restoration of historical justice. 
The President of the Republic of Azerbaij an IlhamAliyev not-
ed in his address to Azerbaij anis on the occasion of the 31 March 
Genocide of Azerbaij anis: “I assure you that with the help of the 
unity and solidarity of our nation and political will of Azerbaij ani 
government, we will achieve our goals, including restoration of 
territorial integrity and sovereignty and exposition of those who 
committ ed the genocide and those who stir hatred and hostility 
among nations.” (6) 
Diaspora organizations operating in diff erent countries of the 
world function eff ectively in disseminating truth about the crimes 
committ ed  against  Azerbaij anis. The adopted statement in the 
annual meeting of the Coordination Council of Azerbaij ani  and 
Turkish Diaspora organizations (Germany, Berlin, March 27, 2008) 
reads as follows: “...acts of genocide committ ed against the Turk-
ish people in diff erent regions of Azerbaij an in March 1918 by the 
Armenian chauvinistic nationalists is one of the most horrible 
crimes... during the events 50 thousand Azerbaij anis were killed 
with brutality in Baku, Shamakhi, Mugan, Guba and Lankaran, 10 
thousands of people were expelled from their lands. Only in Baku 
the number of people killed by the Armenian terrorists constituted 
30 thousand. 58 villages in Shamakhi, 122 in Guba, 150 in moun-

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tainous part of Karabakh, 115 in Zangezur, 211 in Irevan province, 
92 villages in the province of Kars have been completely razed to 
the ground... in February of 1992, a horrifi c genocide, Khodjaly, 
was committ ed by the Armenian nationalists.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, European conven-
tion on Protectionof Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of 
Genocide adopted by the resolution 260 (III) of the UN General 
Assembly dated 9 December 1948, the International Criminal 
Court Status (article.6) and other international legal acts are legal 
documents for the recognition of 31 March and Khojaly genocides 
as international crimes.
Coordination Council of the Azerbaij ani and Turkish Diaspora 
organizations addresses the world community to condemn ter-
ror and genocide acts committ ed against Turkic nations, notably 
against Azerbaij anis by Armenian nationalists and call the world 
countries and international organizations to objectively assess the 
situation”.
As a result of the productive activity of diaspora organizations 
in April 1, 2009, the Nevada state of US recognized March 31, 1918 
as the memorial day of the killing of innocent Azerbaij anis.The 
Governor of the state, Jim Gibbons, made a relevant decision aft er 
careful consideration of documents and historical evidences sub-
mitt ed to his offi
  ce. The document does also emphasize the territo-
rial integrity of Azerbaij an and Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral 
part of Azerbaij an.
Numerous books and articles were published and some materi-
als were placed in webpages on crimes committ ed by Armenians 
in diff erent regions of Azerbaij an in 1918. (7) 
Some Western European and US historians have writt en several 
articles on Azerbaij ani history covering 1918-1920 periods. (8) 

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Along with applauding the work done in this sphere, it should 
be noted that it is of great importance to disseminate the informa-
tion not only to local readers but also to international community, 
particular to West European citizens. To this end, the Association 
for Civil Society Development in Azerbaij an (ACSDA) intends to 
publish a book in several languages within the framework of the 
project “1918 Shamakhi genocide” in order to disseminate the re-
alities in the international arena.
The ACSDA has implemented the so called two projects “Kho-
jaly genocide” and “Garadaghly tragedy” in this regard (for fur-
ther information please visit www.avciya.az). This can contribute 
to the resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh confl ict and to the restora-
tion of territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaij an. The As-
sociation is keen on continuing its eff orts in this direction in the 
years to come.

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Historical roots of Shamakhi Genocide
Shamakhi, the ancient cultural center of Azerbaij an, endowed-
Khagani Shirvani, Feleki Shirvani, Imadeddin Nasimi, Haji Zey-
nalabdin Shirvani, Seid Azim Shirvani, Mirza Alakbar Sabir, Mo-
hammad Hadi, Abbas Sahhat and other fi gures to the world, and 
has always been in the limelight of invaders. Historical facts prove 
that Russian aggressive and imperial policy backed the brutality 
committ ed by Armenians in diff erent parts of Azerbaij an includ-
ing Shamakhi. 
The Russian aggressive movement to Azerbaij ani  territories 
from the end of ninth century on laid the beginning of this policy. 
In 914 more than 50 thousand Russians on 500 ships, 100 persons 
in each, came to the costs of the Caspian sea. Shirvanshah Ali ibn-
Heysem fought against the enemy not only on land, but also at 
sea. (9) In 1032–1033 Russians captured Shamakhi as the result 
of the destructive att ack like “Barda tragedy”, and looted the city 
in 10 days with the killing of 10 thousand residents. 668 years af-
ter this tragedy Peter the fi rst used Armenians, who were happily 
ready to serve Russian imperial policy, to continue Russian oc-
cupation. He sent the propagandist of the “Armenian case” Israeli 
Orini to Shamakhi in 1701. Later Peter the fi rst att acked the Cas-
pian litt oral regions in 1722 under the pretext of killing of Russian 
traders during the Shamakhi revolt in 1721. He primarily att acked 
Shamakhi region. This movement was offi
  cially called “Shamakhi 
movement” in diplomatic talks of St. Petersburg at that time. As 
the following of the Russian aggressive policy there were many 
Armenians in Russian troops att acked in Azerbaij an in 1796 under 
the leadership of V.Zubov. In October of the same year V.Zubov 
moved the headquarters of the Russian troops to New Shamak-
hi. But the death of Yekaterina the second in November 1796 and 

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