Gela Vasadze: Khojaly is the memory not only of Azerbaijan, but of the entire region

The Khojaly genocide is an extremely grave and painful subject. When speaking about it, it is important to distinguish between an emotional approach and a political and legal one. From a political perspective, the Khojaly tragedy went down in history as the first mass killing of civilians in the post Soviet space after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

This was stated by Georgian political analyst Gela Vasadze in a comment to The Daily Baku.

“It is true that tragic events had previously taken place in Tbilisi, Baku and Vilnius. During its existence, the Soviet Union committed numerous grave crimes. However, from a legal standpoint, those were the responsibility of the Soviet state. Khojaly, by contrast, was the first mass killing of civilians that occurred in a completely new geopolitical phase after the dissolution of the Soviet Union,” Vasadze said.

He noted that this also highlights another important point: the Khojaly tragedy created a dangerous precedent of targeting civilians during conflicts. “Unfortunately, that precedent continued afterwards. The events in Gagra in 1992, the tragedy in Sukhumi in 1993, and later similar crimes in various parts of the post Soviet space proved this.

In this sense, Khojaly should have been a lesson not only for Azerbaijan, but at least for the South Caucasus region and for the post Soviet space, which has now become history.” The political analyst stressed that if there had been a timely and adequate international response to Khojaly, it might have been possible to prevent the terrible humanitarian catastrophes the world is witnessing today, particularly in Ukraine.

“Silence over Khojaly later reinforced a sense of impunity, which paved the way for even greater tragedies. This is a very serious lesson for everyone. As for the moral dimension, it requires no separate explanation – everything is clear here. The memory of the innocent people who were killed on that terrible night must always be honored with respect. I bow my head before their memory.”