Ilham Aliyev: The latest step was the trial of war criminals recently held in Baku

This is the greatest tragedy for the Azerbaijani people. Both the Azerbaijani state and public organizations, non-governmental organizations, and many other structures, one could say, actively worked to bring it to the attention of the world public and present our just cause to the international community.

As reported by AZERTAC, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stated this during a meeting with representatives of the public of Khojaly district.

"Here I would like to particularly note the activities of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Immediately after its establishment, the Foundation launched the large-scale 'Justice for Khojaly!' movement. This initiative was carried out by Vice-President of the Foundation Leyla Aliyeva. Over the past 20 years, numerous events, presentations, symposiums, conferences have been held in many countries of the world on her initiative, and many books, brochures, and booklets have been published. Because the Armenian state, the global Armenian community, and the states behind them tried to conceal this bloody tragedy. Armenian propagandists even tried to blame Azerbaijan for this tragedy. Had we not raised our rightful voice, perhaps today there would be no truthful information about the Khojaly genocide in the world. It is precisely thanks to our persistent efforts that nearly 20 countries have officially recognized the Khojaly genocide, and this process continues.

The 'Justice for Khojaly!' movement had a great impact. I repeat, we demanded justice. But unfortunately, international organizations and leading countries of the world demonstrated indifference to this tragedy of ours. Once again I want to note, they tried to conceal this bloody crime committed by the Armenian state. We, however, moved toward justice step by step. The official recognition of the Khojaly genocide by nearly 20 countries was the first step, the Patriotic War and our glorious Victory was the second step, the liberation of the city of Khojaly two and a half years ago was one of the final steps. Finally, the last step was the trial of war criminals recently held in Baku. The criminals who committed the Khojaly genocide, who stained their hands with the blood of the Azerbaijani people, were brought to justice," the head of state added.