26 February, 2020 An international conference titled “Protection of peaceful population in armed conflicts” was held by Eurasian International Development Association (EIDA) and supported by Ukraine Ombudsman’s Office in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. The conference attended by the deputies of Verkhovna Rada (Parliament of Ukraine), PACE, representatives of diplomatic corps, accredited to this country, and NGO’s. In the opening ceremony of the event devoted to the Khojaly tragedy, Lyudmila Denisova, the chairman of Human Rights Commission of Verkhovna Rada, Azer Khudiyev, Ambassador of Azerbaijan in Ukraine and Valeri Kolyulh, chairman of Ukraine-Azerbaijan Friendship Group in Rada were welcoming the participants, recalled the memories of Khojaly victims and considered this tragedy as crime committed against humanity.
During the opening ceremony Amb. Elshad Iskandarov, Ambassador At Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan informed about international and European norms on protection of civilians during regional conflicts at present time and emphasized that, Armenia as invader had broken these principles during Karabakh conflict. In this regard Khojaly genocide was the latest stage of these crimes. E.Iskandarov noted that, many years both the world community and European institution shave demonstrated double standards, when their declared high principles were cruelly broken in Khojaly genocide. Only in 2009, as the result of ‘Justice for Khojaly” international awareness campaign, initiated by Ms.Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation and General Coordinator of Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (ICYF-DC) on Intercultural Dialogue, international communities recognized this as tragedy. He also informed participants about political and moral recognition of Khojaly genocide by some international and organizations as well as national parliaments.
The event continued with panel discussions with the participation of Ms. Natalia Korolevska, Deputy Head of Social Policy Committee of Ukraine Parliament, Mr. Benjamin Moro, Deputy Chairman of UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, Mr. Elchin Askerov, the Chairman of Board of EIDA, Ms. Hanna Khristova, European Parliament’s representative in Ukraine, Mr. Oleksandr Pavlichenko, Executive Director Ukraine Helsinki Human Rights Union.
During the conference, documentary film about Khojaly genocide, prepared by Heydar Aliyev Foundation was demonstrated.