February 26, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 35 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E212-E213]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING THE 27TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KHOJALY MASSACRE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 26, 2019

  Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, this week marks the 27th anniversary of the 
massacre of hundreds of people in the town of Khojaly in what was the 
largest killing of ethnic Azerbaijani civilians in the course of the 
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. Khojaly, which is located in the Nagorno-
Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, was once home to 7,000 people. That was 
before Armenian armed forces massacred over 600 unarmed people--
including 106 women and 83 children--and left less than 2,000 
survivors. Hundreds more became disabled due to their horrific 
injuries. More than one hundred children lost a parent and 25 children 
lost both parents. At least 8 families were completely killed.
  Even though a ceasefire went into effect over two decades ago, more 
than 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh 
and seven surrounding districts, remain occupied and more than 1 
million

[[Page E213]]

Azerbaijanis remain refugees unable to return to their home villages. 
Ongoing violence along the line of contact surrounding occupied 
Azerbaijani territory reinforces the urgency of robust American 
participation in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in 
Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group as it works toward a peaceful resolution of 
the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict.
  Azerbaijan has been a strong partner of the United States and its 
allies in security and energy matters. This cooperation has included: 
playing a leadership role in nonproliferation issues; providing troops 
to serve shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. forces in Kosovo, Iraq, and 
Afghanistan; allowing transit of non-lethal equipment used by coalition 
forces through Azerbaijan to Afghanistan, construction of the Southern 
Gas Corridor from the Caspian Sea to Italy, thereby providing Europe 
with an alternative to Russian energy sources; and supplying 40 percent 
of Israel's oil. Azerbaijan also has a thriving Jewish community and 
has outstanding relations with Israel.
  As Azerbaijanis throughout the world commemorate the massacre and 
continue to grieve the loss of loved ones, let us commit ourselves to 
supporting non-violent efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh 
conflict.