The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in connection with March 31 - the Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Azerbaijan issued a statement in connection with March 31 - the Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis.

As reported by BAKU.WS, it states:

"Today, March 31, is the Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis. It marks the 108th anniversary of the monstrous mass killings committed against our people by radical Armenian groups.

The genocide carried out in March 1918 by 6,000 members of the Baku Soviet and 4,000 armed members of the "Dashnaktsutyun" party went down in history as one of the most brutal examples of ethnic cleansing policy. The admissions of the Extraordinary Commissar of the Caucasus Stepan Shaumyan from that period also prove that these massacres were committed precisely on the grounds of national hatred under the guise of "fighting counter-revolution."

As a result of these crimes, systematically carried out in Baku, Shamakhi, Guba, Karabakh, Zangezur, Nakhchivan, Shirvan, and Irevan, tens of thousands of Azerbaijanis were killed. In Guba alone, more than 16,000 people were massacred and 167 villages were wiped off the face of the earth. Along with the civilian population, the religious and cultural heritage of our people was also targeted: mosques and historical monuments were destroyed.

After the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, despite the creation of special bodies to investigate these events, as well as bringing the truth about them to the attention of the world community and declaring March 31 a day of national mourning, the fall of the Republic prevented giving this crime a political and legal assessment.

After the restoration of our independence, by the decree of the national leader Heydar Aliyev dated March 26, 1998, "On the Genocide of Azerbaijanis," these mass killings were given a state political and legal assessment.

At the beginning of the 20th century, this bloody policy of genocide continued in subsequent periods as well, and by the end of the century it acquired a systematic character in the form of mass deportation of Azerbaijanis from the territory of present-day Armenia, mass killings committed during the years of occupation of Azerbaijani territories, in particular the Khojaly genocide and other war crimes.

The Azerbaijani people will never forget these bloody pages of their history.

On the Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis - March 31 - we honor with deep sorrow the blessed memory of all our compatriots who fell victim to ethnic hatred and genocide.

May Allah rest their souls!"