41
of criminals was not realized. Regretfully, the amnesty in February 1920 and the
occupation of Azerbaijan by the Soviet Russia in April 27,1920 hampered
punishment of the criminals.
After the occupation, instead of the investigation of the issue, “26 Baku
Commissars” was presented to Azerbaijani people as a false historical legend
with an instruction of Moscow. (2) During the Soviet period the main organizers
of crimes committed against Azerbaijanis were presented as national heroes, and
monuments were erected to honor them. (3) Moreover, extensive campaign was
carried out to remove Azerbaijani and Turkishsoldiers, who sacrificed
themselves to save local residents from Armenian and Bolshevik forces, from
the memory, and even those who made an attempt to restore their graves were
strictly punished. For instance, the attitude to the grave of the lonely Turkish
officer, mayor Izzet Afandy, who sacrificed himself in the fight in July 18,1918
in the so-called Ajidere between Shamakhi and Mereze, proves it. Head of the
Samakhi district, who laid his gravestone, was killed in 1928, and the grave was
entirely destroyed. Later Shamakhi residents Mahammad, and afterwards,
Babakhan Rizakhanov restored the grave. For this reason, Babakhan
Rizakhanov was arrested in 1964. Finally, the grave was repaired in 1993, and in
May 10, 2000 the monument was erected in the honor of 1130 Turkish soldiers
who sacrificed themselves in the 1918 Caucasus movement. National poets
Bakhtiyar Vahabzade and Gabil dedicated their poems “Lonely Grave” and
“Turkish Grave” to honor Turkish soldier. (4)
Azerbaijan Republic created a favorable condition to investigate the
case after the restoration of independence in October 18, 1991. The national
leader Heydar Aliyev's decree “on Genocide of Azerbaijanis” (March 26, 1998)
plays a crucial role in this regard. It says “the genocide of Azerbaijanis was
carried out with special brutality in Baki, Shamakhi, Guba, Karabakh, Zengezur,
Nakichevan, Lenkeran and in other regions of Azerbaijan. Civilians were
massively killed, villages were burnt, national and cultural monuments were
utterly destroyed... only to one of them, to March 1918 genocide, was there an
attempt to politically assess. The Republic of Azerbaijan as a successor of
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic regards the duty of political assessment of the
genocide as the historical judgment. (5)
To proceed investigation on 1918 events, three volume materials of
Emergency Investigation Commission of General Prosecutor of the Republic of
Azerbaijan on criminal case, kept in National Archive of the Republic of
Azerbaijan on genocide carried out towards Azerbaijanis by Armenians, were
submitted to the Heydar Aliyev Foundation to be used in the work of “Genocide
Memorial Complex” and disseminate to international community.
Within the project of Heydar Aliyev Foundation “the Address of
Tolerance: Azerbaijan” reconstruction of Juma mosque, burned by Armenians in
1918, is one of the positive measures taken in restoration of historical justice.
42
Special attention of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 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 Azerbaijan IlhamAliyev noted in his
address to Azerbaijanis on the occasion of the 31 March Genocide of
Azerbaijanis: “I assure you that with the help of the unity and solidarity of our
nation and political will of Azerbaijani government, we will achieve our goals,
including restoration of territorial integrity and sovereignty and exposition of
those who committed the genocide and those who stir hatred and hostility
among nations.” (6)
Diaspora organizations operating in different countries of the world
function effectively in disseminating truth about the crimes committed against
Azerbaijanis. The adopted statement in the annual meeting of the Coordination
Council of Azerbaijani and Turkish Diaspora organizations (Germany, Berlin,
March 27,2008) reads as follows: “...acts of genocide committed against the
Turkish people in different regions of Azerbaijan in March 1918 by the
Armenian chauvinistic nationalists is one of the most horrible crimes... during
the events 50 thousand Azerbaijanis 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
mountainous 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 horrific genocide, Khodjaly, was committed by the
Armenian nationalists.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, European convention 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 Azerbaijani and Turkish Diaspora
organizations addresses the world community to condemn terror and genocide
acts committed against Turkic nations, notably against Azerbaijanis 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 Azerbaijanis.The Governor of the state, Jim Gibbons,
made a relevant decision after careful consideration of documents and historical
evidences submitted to his office. The document does also emphasize the territo-