UPDATE - Türkiye honors victims of Khojaly Massacre on 33rd anniversary

UPDATE WITH ADDITIONAL STATEMENT RELEASED ON MINISTRY WEBSITE

By Gizem Nisa Cebi

ISTANBUL (AA) - Türkiye on Wednesday commemorated the 33rd anniversary of the Khojaly Massacre, remembering the mass killing of Azerbaijani civilians by Armenian forces in the town of Khojaly in Karabakh.

"We remember with mercy and respect the precious memory of our innocent Azerbaijani brothers who were massacred in Khojaly exactly 33 years ago, and we carry the pain of dear Azerbaijan in our hearts," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on X.

"We strongly condemn the massacre of innocent civilians by Armenian armed forces..." said the ministry in an official statement posted on its website.

Türkiye also reiterated "condolences to the people of Azerbaijan."

"I respectfully commemorate our Azerbaijani brothers who lost their lives. Türkiye stands by our beloved Azerbaijan today and always, as the country did yesterday," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also stated on X.

The Turkish National Defense Ministry deemed the massacre a "black spot of history" and said it shares "the pain of Turkish brothers."

On the heels of the Soviet Union's dissolution, Armenian forces took over the town of Khojaly in Karabakh on Feb. 26, 1992, after battering it with heavy artillery and tanks, assisted by an infantry regiment.

The town was the site of a two-hour Armenian offensive that killed 613 Azerbaijani civilians—including 106 women, 63 children, and 70 elderly people—and seriously injured 487 others, according to Azerbaijani figures.

Some 150 of the 1,275 Azerbaijanis that the Armenians captured during what has now been called the Khojaly massacre remain missing, while eight families were completely wiped out.

The Karabakh region had been the site of mass killings and burials since the First Karabakh War in the early 1990s, during which the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh—a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan—and seven adjacent regions, including Khojaly.

In the fall of 2020, in 44 days of fighting, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages, and settlements in Karabakh from some 30 years of Armenian occupation.

Türkiye was among the first countries to recognize the incident as a massacre and has called for justice for the victims.