February 26, 1992 is a
date of sorrow and lost for the Azerbaijani people. The day when the armed
Armenian forces instigated the capture of the Khojaly city in Azerbaijan. They
captured the city with the support of hard equipment and the personnel of the
infantry guards regiment No. #366 of the former Soviet Union. The firing
actually began on the evening of February 25th and continued until
the next day, having the whole city on fire by five o’clock in the morning. People
were forced to leave their houses and watch their families suffer and die right
in front of their own eyes. As a result , 613 people were killed among them 63
children, 106 women, and 70 elders. By the collected data, we know that 8
families were completely killed, 25 children lost both of their parents, 130
children lost one of the parents, 487 people were wounded including 76
children, 1275 people were held hostages and 150 people went missing that day.
On February 26th
2013, the Azerbaijani population living in the States and their friends will be
remembering the 21st anniversary of one of the most horrible events
in the 1990s – the Khojaly Massacre. The massacre is known to be the biggest
war crime in the USSR in the late 20th century. Such horrible action
has been acknowledged and “high fived” by the Armenian president – but should
people be happy that so many people have gone missing or have lost a loved one?
On January 26, 2013 a
petition was made on the official website of the US White House, asking for the
recognition of the Khojaly Massacre and its victims. For the petition to be looked over by the
White House, the petition must have at least 100,000 signatures until February
25.
Now my rant starts here.
There are about 1,014,380
registered Facebook accounts on Facebook and 91.08% of them are active. It’s
been almost two weeks, of people constantly sharing the link on Facebook and
talking about it all day, but the collection of signatures rises super slow –
why? If there about 920,000 active users on Facebook, I’m sure it shouldn’t be
a problem to collect 100,000! What shocks me the most is how the Azerbaijani
people tend to not care about issues like the petition or the strikes to
improve the governmental status, but when it comes to collecting likes on a
picture, people go wild and do whatever to collect likes! People beat their
chests saying they are patriots but I’ve been proven wrong – it’s all talk. Why
not show some kind of unity of the people and work together? Why can’t we just
collect the likes and for once be proud of one another without some kind of
conflict rising in between us? It would be a pity and such a disappointment for
me to not have reach 100,000 signatures in time. It would be embarrassing,
actually.
To all the Azerbaijanis living on Earth, I ask you the following:
- Go to: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/issue-proclamation-commemorating-and-recognizing-war-crime-khojaly-massacre-and-its-victims/W8BbDqYx
- If you already have a White House account, press “Sign In” if not, then click “Create an Account” and simply fill in the asked (you can leave the postal code in blank, if you wish)
- Sign and Share!
For once, let’s unite and
do something positive together! Let’s sign this petition, let’s share it and
send it to everyone, and keep fighting for what’s right.
Let all the killed rest
in peace – you are remembered.
Allah Rehmet Elesin!