“Endless corridor” - a documentary film on the Khojaly genocide received its premiere in Baku today. Azerbaijan's First Lady, Mehriban Aliyeva. attended the launch ceremony. Made by UK, Lithuanian, Estonian & Finnish filmmakers, the documentary is part of the Peace for the Caucasus project.  

The screening, supported by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, took place as part of the Justice for Khojaly International Awareness Campaign, and marked the 20th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide.

Leyla Aliyeva - Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and General Coordinator of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum`s general coordinator for intercultural dialogue - addressed the launch ceremony. She praised the film, saying it would play a crucial role in increasing world community awareness of the truth about the Khojaly genocide.

The film is based on the diaries of Lithuanian war reporter Ričardas Lapaitis, who was in Baku in late February 1992 and witnessed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In his remarks, Lapaitis said he participated in the film as someone who witnessed what happened in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“I wish this film was shown in Armenia as well. That would help start a dialogue…”

Mr Lapaitis praised the activity of Leyla Aliyeva, in particular for the Justice for Khojaly International Awareness Campaign. The launch ceremony was attended by state and government representatives, MPs, scholars and cultural figures.

On the night of 25-26 February 1992, the Armenian armed forces, with participation of the Khankendi-based 366th Motorized Infantry Regiment, attacked and destroyed overnnight the town of Khojaly, which had been encircled for several months. In this bloody act, they brutally slaughtered civilians, murdering 613 people, abusing corpses, and took 1275 hostages. Of these, the fate of 150 still remains unknown. Of those killed, 63 were children, 106 were women and 70 were pensioners. Eight families were totally wiped out.

Initiated in 2009 by the Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva, the “Justice for Khojaly” International Awareness Campaign boosted the awareness-increasing activity even more. Thanks to the work carried out as part of this campaign, the terrible evidence of the tragedy twenty years ago have been brought to the attention of the wider international community, and millions of people in all corners of the world became aware of the true face of Armenian nationalists. The campaign is being successfully continued in 35 countries.

This January the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which encompasses 51 states, recognized the Khojaly tragedy as an act of genocide. The parliaments of Pakistan and Mexico adopted resolutions recognizing the massacre as an act of genocide.

Participants of the event were presented with Leyla Aliyeva`s book “Khojaly. Twenty years, ten stories. This could have been true...”.