Baku, February 25, AZERTAC
The US-based Jewish Journal has published an article by witness of Khojaly massacre, and survivor Durdana Agayeva headlined “Facing denial of war crimes in California.”
The article reads: “It is difficult for me to describe how I felt when I read the letter distributed to members of the California State Legislature by a group of CA legislators (Sen. Anthony Portantino, Sen. Scott Wilk, Assemblymember Laura Friedman and Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian) referring to the Khojaly Massacre of 1992 as fabricated, and urging their colleagues to ignore community efforts to commemorate the victims and survivors of Khojaly.
It is difficult because I am a survivor of the Khojaly Massacre. I was only 20, when I was captured by Armenian troops. I had just finished high school and started my first job as a telephone operator. When my hometown of Khojaly was invaded by Armenia on that freezing night of Feb. 25/26, 1992, my relatives, friends and everyone we all knew ran for our lives into the dark of night, as bullets flew around us and screams penetrated our ears. I was captured, and because I worked for our town’s telephone company, it was assumed that I held classified information about Azerbaijan’s communication systems. I was one of hundreds of Azerbaijani civilians, alongside children and women, that were held captive in the Armenian torture camp, where I was subjected to unspeakable violations and cruelty, and I have required multiple spinal surgeries during the last three decades to address the damage I endured.