Parliamentary Union of the Organization of the Islamic Conference adopts a declaration to support the ‘Justice for Khojaly’ campaign

Parliamentary Union of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (PUOIC) has adopted a declaration to support the "Justice for Khojaly" campaign initiated by Heydar Aliyev Foundation’s Vice President Leila Aliyeva.

The 13th meeting of the Council of PUOIC was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The delegation led by Youth Forum of OIC (YFOIC) Secretary General Elshad Isgandarov partook in the meeting.

PUOIC Council member states adopted Abu Dhabi Declaration, calling on parliaments in 51 countries to recognize the Khojaly tragedy as a crime against humanity. E.Isgandarov said the document was adopted as a result of approval of Resolution “On Cooperation between YFOIC and PUOIC” initiated by YFOIC. Article 3 of the Resolution notes that the Organization recognizes the "mass massacre committed by the Armenian armed forces against the civilian population of Azerbaijani town of Khojaly as a crime against humanity.” The document also appealed to member countries "to give an appropriate assessment to this crime on the national level." The Resolution was part of the "Justice for Khojaly" campaign initiated by Leila Aliyeva, the Vice President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation, YFOIC General Coordinator, whose work was highly assessed by PUOIC Council in the Resolution.

Elshad Isgandarov said: “The conference of the PUOIC speakers recognized last year the tragedy as a crime against humanity. Concerning that fact, official Iravan stated the speakers are not diplomat and do not know what they sign. Since then, parliaments of some OIC member countries faced pressures to deny that position. The Council’s recognizing the Khojaly tragedy as a crime against mankind via the Resolution once again shows the principal position of OIC in this issue and puts the process of political evaluation of the tragedy on the practical level.”

The Secretary General mentioned the Resolution directly calls on the Organization’s member parliaments, and this opens the phase of legal and political recognition of the tragedy on the national level. PUOIC unites a quarter of parliaments around the world, and the use of terms, having political and legal content by this structure signifies a new stage in international recognition of the Khojaly tragedy, which is a part of the genocide policy carried out by Armenian nationalists against the Azerbaijani people, and bringing the perpetrators of the massacre to liability. The idea to adopt the Resolution was put forward by Leila Aliyeva during her meeting with the national coordinators of the "Justice for Khojaly" campaign and is successfully realized as a result of lobbying by the campaign activists among MPs worldwide.

Mr Isgandarov expressed gratitude to PUOIC Secretariat, MPs from Turkey, Jordan, Iran, Pakistan, Kuwait and other countries, delegates of Milli Mejlis and Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan for supporting this initiative of YFOIC.

The "Justice for Khojaly" international information and propaganda campaign was initiated by Mrs Leila Aliyeva on the anniversary of Shusha's occupation on May 8, 2008. The campaign aims to educate the international community about the Khojaly tragedy and achieve the legal-political and moral assessment of the tragedy. Hundreds of volunteers work on the campaign in over 30 countries.

PUOIC brings together parliaments of 51 member states and holds sessions of the Council annually and session of the Conference every 2 years in one of corresponding countries in Africa, Asia and Arab region.