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U.S. Congress commemorates Khojaly massacre
The US-based Assembly of Friends of Azerbaijan (AFAZ) has organized a special event in Washington in order to commemorate the victims of the Khojaly massacre and demand justice for this tragedy.
16 congressmen (Bill Shuster, Pete Olson, Henry Cuellar, Ryan Zinke, Xavier Becerra, Yvette Clarke, Paul Gosar, Al Green, Ted Deutch, Brian Babin, Randy Hultgren, Sheila Jackson Lee, Robert Aderholt, Charlie Dent, Mark Veasey, Doug Lamborn), members of the Azerbaijani Parliament Asim Mollazada and Sevinj Fataliyeva, member of the Senate of France Natalie Goulet, several congressional staff, local public as well as members of Azerbaijani and Turkish communities attended the event held at the Congress.
Making a keynote speech at the event, Azerbaijani Ambassador to the U.S. Elin Suleymanov expressed gratitude to all guests, including the U.S. Congressmen for demonstrating solidarity with the Azerbaijani people.
The ambassador characterized the Khojaly massacre as the most tragic event of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, noting that the commemoration of the massacre victims is not aimed to promote the revenge but to remind the importance of ensuring a lasting peace as soon as possible. Suleymanov expressed the readiness of Azerbaijan for beginning negotiations on a comprehensive peace agreement in the near future. He said that the commemoration of the Khojaly tragedy can prevent future massacres, adding that if this massacre and the occupation that Azerbaijan faced, were properly paid attention previously, other tragic events in our region as well as the causalities in Ukraine would be possible to prevent.
Welcoming the Azerbaijani MPs who are in the U.S. to attend the commemorative events on the Khojaly massacre, the ambassador mentioned that they arrived in Washington following the ceremony in Pennsylvania and on the same day, House of Representatives of the State adopted a resolution on the Khojaly massacre.
Co-Chair of the US-Azerbaijani Friendship Group in the Congress, Bill Shuster said that he feels honored to chair the group. He described Azerbaijan as a strategic partner for the U.S. and underlined the importance of bilateral relations.
