The scheduled meeting in plenary that the Milli Majlis held on 25 February took place in the dolorific time when the people of Azerbaijan are remembering with sorrow the innocent victims of the atrocious massacre unleashed by the Armenian Chauvinism in the Azerbaijani town of Khojali, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova said as she opened the plenum.

The thirtieth anniversary of the Khojali Genocide is marked at the stage level according to the decree of President Ilham Aliyev of the Azerbaijan Republic, added Mrs Gafarova at whose suggestion the assembly had a minute of silence in memoriam the genocide’s victims and asked that the Lord would rest their souls in peace.

The Khojali Genocide was an occurrence of unparalleled cruelty and an example of flagrant impunity; it ranks equal with the most horrendous mass killings that the humankind had to face throughout the twentieth century. That bloody villainy, plotted in an attempt to undermine the willpower of the nation that have risen in defence of their land, left 613 peaceful Azerbaijanis – amongst them 63 children, 106 women and 70 old persons – lifeless, murdered only because of their nationality. But that was not all: 487 people were mauled and 1,275 townspeople were captured to find themselves subjects of most inhuman torments. Nothing is known to date of the fate of 150 hostages including 68 women and 26 children.

That nefarious act, which was aimed not only against our nation but also the whole of the humankind, had been orchestrated by the political and public administration of the Republic of Armenia. The executors or, rather, the executioners, were the detachments of the Armenian armed forces, gangs of Armenian terrorists and the personnel of the 366^th motorised rifle regiment of the former USSR Army quartered in the town of Khankendi.

Going further, Madame Speaker said that the Khojali Genocide was the most blood-stained page in the vexing two-century-long history of oppression, aggression and ethnic purging. It is known full well that superpowers pedalled the fictitious ‘Armenian Question’ in certain historical spans in order to carry out their geopolitical plans. The Armenian chauvinists having fallen for the ‘Great Armenia’ phantasm under both covert and overt patronage of such states inflicted countless calamities upon the native population of the South Caucasus.

Thousands of innocent Azerbaijanis and members of other peoples were exterminated brutally over their ethnic or religious affiliations at the dawn of the twentieth century. The fall of the Tsarist Russia was followed by the making-up of the Republic of Armenia in the truly Azerbaijani lands, that is, within the territory of the former Irevan Khanate. As if that was not enough, more than 20,000 m2 of land that belonged to the Azerbaijanis were added to that artificial creation.

Further, the Soviet Power planted within the boundaries of Azerbaijan, again, another thing of shaky creation – the ‘Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Province’. More than 1.5 million Azerbaijanis were deported or driven from their homes during 1948–1953 and 1988–1993. And, at last, 20% of the Azerbaijan territory remained occupied for almost thirty years.

Several generations of Armenians were raised saturated with the spirit of national exceptionality as well as ensconced in ethnic intolerance and animosity towards the Azerbaijani people. Through the efforts of the Armenian ‘scientists’ was distorted the history of the region with the Armenian part of it having been aggrandised and faked to look older than it actually is whereas a harsh policy of moral aggression was launched upon the Azerbaijanis.

The organised state-level resistance to the Armenian Chauvinism began with the National Leader Heydar Aliyev retaking power.

The Great Leader emphasised the importance of a proper international political verdict on the tragedy in Khojali and took the thoroughly contemplated steps to communicate it to the global community. His decree ‘On the Azerbaijanis’ Genocide’ of 26 March 1998 was instrumental in debunking the myths shrouding historical truths and fixing those truths in the humankind annals. Subject to the same decree, the 31^st of March was declared the Azerbaijani Genocide Day – that was done in memoriam the innocent victims of the atrocities to which the Armenian nationalists had subjected our people.

The president of the Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev has made repeated public addresses about the genocide of the Azerbaijanis and has described the Khojali Tragedy as one of the most ruthless crimes against humanity, the most merciless acts of mass terror.

The strategic foundation and goals of the policy for world-wide recognition of the genocide in Khojali, too, was formulated by the Head of State, according to the Chair of the Milli Majlis. Mrs Gafarova quoted Mr President as having said, ‘The world community and parliaments of other countries should be told the truth about the Khojali Genocide as a component of the purposeful ethnic cleansing policy pursued by the Armenian chauvinists with regards to the Azerbaijanis in the 19^th and the 20^th centuries. This is a war crime, grave to the extreme, against the people of Azerbaijan and, on the whole, against humanity, and it requires a proper international political and legal assessment.’

President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva join the annual national marches marking yet another anniversary of the Genocide in Khojali but also another milestone in the on-going work related to the tragedy, according to Sahiba Gafarova.

Another march of the kind is due tomorrow. Such marches show that the people of Azerbaijan never for even a fleeting moment forget the tragedy in Khojali and the other crimes of the Armenian chauvinists.

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation is actively involved in the efforts to tell the world the truth about Khojali; the tenacious work is done under the canopy of the ‘Justice for Khojali!’ campaign organised by the HAF.

As a result of the systematic drive for a global recognition of the Khojali Genocide, documents putting the mass murder committed in that Azerbaijani town down as a genocidal act were adopted by the Parliamentary Union of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation and the parliaments of Mexico, Pakistan, the Czech Republic, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Honduras, Sudan, Guatemala and Djibouti. Besides, the legislatures of Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Jordan, Slovenia and Scotland as well as the executive and legislative bodies of 22 of the United States (of America) have condemned and deplored the Khojali Tragedy as a massacre.

No matter how many years have passed or will have passed – the people of Azerbaijan will not be able to put behind them the pain and bitterness of the Khojali Tragedy – and then, they never should, either, Sahiba Gafarova continued. Justice would prevail sooner or later: the ideologists, organisers and perpetrators of the crime would meet their well-deserved punishments, added with conviction the leader of the Azerbaijani parliament.

The Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic has passed special statements, appeals and resolutions in connexion with the Khojali Genocide. International organisations, national parliaments and governments were urged to recognise the genocide of the Azerbaijanis that the Armenian Chauvinism and its patrons and captains waged throughout the 19^th and the 20^th centuries. The urge was also made that the development of effective international mechanisms of legal prevention of such evil deeds going unpunished in the future would be accomplished without delay. The Milli Majlis, meanwhile, furthers its own methodical work, done in conjunction with other countries’ authorities, on fulfilled that task.

Continuing her speech, Sahiba Gafarova said that recalled how she had been reminding, at the meetings in Baku and the fifteen official and working abroad trips of the two years past, the presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers as well as the parliament speakers and members of the host countries about the approaching thirtieth anniversary of the genocide in Khojali. For all those two years, Mrs Gafarova had been calling on them to help the cause of achieving appropriate verdicts on the Khojali Genocide by states and national parliaments. As Chair of the Milli Majlis, Mrs Gafarova recently sent as many as 117 letters to the speakers of 75 national legislatures as well as to the leaders of 10 international parliamentary institutions. Those letters, again, reiterate the call to action to have one of the most livid crimes against humanity of them all, the one committed in Khojali, recognised as genocide. At the same time, the leaders and members of the Milli Majlis working groups for inter-parliamentary connexions sent their overseas colleagues 65 of the same nature, according to Sahiba Gafarova.

The lands of Garabagh were rid of the invaders consequent to the 44 days’ Patriotic War waged under the leadership of the president of the Azerbaijan Republic, the victorious Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev. That the national territory is whole again means an end to almost two hundred years of territorial losses and suffering caused by ethnic purges and mass killings of our people. The Armenian Chauvinism that has brought the Azerbaijani people countless rigours and the Armenian expansionism were dealt a crushing blow ultimately. All those add up to the best guarantee that no further crimes will be committed against our nation.

Right now, there is an evident historical opportunity to establish a permanent peace and to build civic inter-state relations between the Azerbaijan Republic and the Republic of Armenia. Peaceful coexistence of the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples is feasible a task provided that the Republic of Armenia assesses this historical chance correctly. But if revanchist rhetoric prevails in the Republic of Armenia and if there are further encroachments upon the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and if the Republic of Armenia does not discard the ideology of national hatred and animosity – which had resulted in the Khojali Genocide and other crimes against civil population – then, there will be grave consequences, first and foremost, for the Armenian people and no other.

Madame Speaker concluded her speech by quoting the esteemed President Ilham Aliyev, saying, ‘I have said this and I am repeating this today, on the Commemoration Day, before the precious memory of our shahids – if we see that the Armenian Fascism is rearing its head again, if we see new sources of threat for our people and state, then we shall not hesitate an instance to crush the head of the Armenian Fascism once again. Let everybody know this. The Iron Fist, the token of War and Victory, is there still – let nobody forget this!’

A video clip about the Khojali Genocide was shown in the House then.

A seven-strong commission led by Vice Speaker Adil Aliyev was formed right at the plenum to draft a resolution of the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic regarding our parliament’s statement on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the Khojali Genocide.

Deliberations followed. Opinions were offered by Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis/Chairman of the Public Associations and Religious Entities Committee Fazail Ibrahimli, Chairman of the Labour and Social Policy Committee Musa Guliyev, Chair of the Culture Committee Ganira Pashayeva and Chairman of the Human Rights Committee Zahid Oruj. Comments were made also by the MPs Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Razi Nurullayev, Jala Aliyeva, Emin Hajiyev, Musa Gasimli, Fazail Agamali, Aydin Huseynov, Javid Osmanov, Rashad Mahmudov, Aghiya Nakhchivanli, Asim Mollazade, Bahrouz Maharramov, Azer Badamov and Elman Nasirov.

The law-makers referred to the Khojali Genocide committed thirty years ago as one of the most sanguinary episodes of the centuries-long Armenian policy of ethnic cleansing, invasions and land captures – aimed at the Azerbaijanis. The MPs also voiced their ideas about international recognition and the equally international political and legal verdicts on the Khojali Genocide, and about bringing the villains responsible for it to justice.

MP Kamal Jafarov proceeded to read out the statement of the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic about the 30^th anniversary of the Khojali Genocide, which document was voted pro subsequently. (The text of the statement is taken out in the press).

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Speaker Sahiba Gafarova announced after the plenum break that the second item on the agenda was a draft resolution of the Milli Majlis about electing a member of the Culture Committee. The House then voted in favour of the candidature of MP Razi Nurullayev.

Mrs Gafarova let the assembly know that the next four agenda items were the Bills coming up for the third reading.

Chairman of the Defence, Security and Counter-Corruption Committee Ziyafet Asgarov tabled the third-reading amendments to the Law ‘On the Armed Forces of the Azerbaijan Republic’. He said that the amendments, once enacted, would provide grounds for setting a procedure and norms of separate logistical supplies for the Army and the other uniform branches – in peace time as well as in war time.

The Bill was voted for in the third reading.

The Speaker of the Milli Majlis announced the next two items, adding that they were interconnected.

Head of the Natural Resources, Energy and Ecology Committee Sadig Gurbanov proceeded to tell the House of the third-reading amendments to the Gas Supplies Law, saying that their purpose was to avert emergencies and tragic occurrences in gas consumption. There had been an addendum related to expert checks following the second reading, Sadig Gurbanov mentioned.

Then came the turn of the amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences, which were described by Kamal Jafarov, a member of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee. Those amendments are about the fines for violation of the applicable legislative requirements concerning distribution and consumption of gas.

The House voted both Bills in one by one.

Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis/Head of the Public Associations and Religious Entities Committee Fazail Ibrahimli tabled the amendments (in the third reading) to the Freedom of Faith Law. There had been no remarks or suggestions after the second reading, Mr Ibrahimli remarked before that Bill, too, was adopted in the third reading.

As the sitting went on in line with the agenda, Deputy Chairman of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Gudrat Hasanguliyev gave an overview of the second-reading amendments to the constitutional law ‘On the Regulatory Legal Acts’. Those amendments are on the harmonising side. Article 1.1.1 of the decree of the President of Azerbaijan dated 8 February 2022 and concerning the enforcement of the Media Law and regulation of the relevant cases gravitates on harmonising regulatory legal acts in connexion with the inception of the Media Development Agency and the Audio-visual Board of the Azerbaijan Republic. The necessary modifications have been made and the wordings ‘the National TV and Radio’ and ‘the Audio-visual (Board) of the Azerbaijan Republic’ are entered in the Law where appropriate therefore, Mr Hasanguliyev explained.

The Bill was approved in the second reading.

As he was overviewing the amendments to the Medical Insurance Law tabled in the second reading, Chairman of the Health Committee Ahliman Amiraslanov specified that the purpose there was to introduce a controlling mechanism for the compulsory medical insurance fees paid on imported excisable goods. Besides, the Law sets the sum of co-finance of damage or loss incurred by an insured event not covered by the compulsory medical insurance and redeemable by the tax-payer. It follows from Article 16-4.4-1 of the Law that the paragraphs of the Articles 15-28.3 and 15-28.4 concerning the co-financed sum shall have been in effect as of 1 January 2022. Those articles shall be effective as of 1 January 2023 to ensure public accessibility of health care services, to guarantee completion of the large amount of work to be done on the compulsory medical insurance facility and, lastly, to let an appropriate system be formed and put in place.

The Bill was approved in the second reading.

Next, Chairman of the Regional Affairs Committee Siyavush Novruzov presented (in the second reading) the interconnected Bill ‘On the Partial Changes in the Administrative Territorial Structure of Ganja City’ and a set of draft amendments, also in the first reading, to ‘The List of the Municipalities of the Azerbaijan Republic’ contained in the Law ‘On the Municipal Territories and Lands’.

According to Mr Novruzov, it is proposed to dissolve the existing Kapaz and Nizami districts of Baku and remove their names from the State Register of the Territorial Divisions of the Azerbaijan Republic. The intended changes in the list of municipalities are related to that move. The matter had been discussed thoroughly together with the MPs elected from Ganja, Mr Novruzov pointed out.

Both Bills were put on vote and adopted in the second reading one by one.

The overview of the second-reading amendments to the City-Planning and Building Code came from Deputy Chairman of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Gudrat Hasanguliyev. They consist in adjusting Article 102.4-2 to the effect that a building utilisation permit shall be granted to a tenant builder no later than within 2 business days, either in person or by registered post, on condition that a document confirming the tenant builder has paid the relevant state duty. Should no such document be submitted, the permit shall be annulled by the appropriate executive authority or by the body incepted by it, and the tenant builder shall be notified accordingly, again, no later than within 2 business days, either in person or by registered post.

Before deliberations could start, Aydin Mirzazade of the Working Group for Inter-Parliamentary Connexions with Poland took the floor to tell the House about his participation of the recent events in honour of the thirtieth anniversary of the Azerbaijani-Polish diplomatic relations.

Returning to the amendments to the City-Planning and Building Code, the committee chairman Siyavush Novruzov and the MPs Razi Nurullayev, Fazil Mustafa, Aydin Huseynov and Fazail Agamali found it necessary to let the assembly know what they thought about the Bill, which was then put on vote and approved in the second reading.

With that, today’s plenary sitting of the Milli Majlis was over.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis