Dear compatriots!

Our people have the centuries-old, rich history, that is full of examples of the heroism and high works and at the same time it is very complex and heavy. The joy and sorrow, victories and defeats have been going side by side, changing each other constantly. It is not by chance that after the holiday of Novruz bayrami, celebrated with triumph and inspiriting in nation-wide, I am appealing to you in order to remember the sorrowful and tragic pages of our past.

Since 1988 the Republic of Azerbaijan have been celebrating annually the day of March 31 as the Day of genocide of Azerbaijanis at the state level. The purpose of such a move is, from one side, to revere the memory of innocent victims of the genocide and from the other side to look again at the events of our history which did not get an objective assessment for a long time and were distorted, to draw conclusions and determine the tasks for future.

The tragic events got their political and legal assessment in the history of Azerbaijani people as the genocide originated from the first half of the 19th century. After the Gulistan and Turkmenchay peace treaties, signed between Russia and Iran, the mass settlement of Armenians in Azerbaijani lands has began, the course of creation of Armenian state in the south of Caucasus has been conducting. At the same time the process of expatriation and deportation of Azerbaijanis from their native lands was realized. At present the recollection of events concerning the genocide and deportation in chronological order allows to feel deeply the scales and horrors of the tragedy.

The Armenian nationalists, who were under the patronage of Russian authorities inflicted large-scale murders and brutalities against Azerbaijanis in 1905 - 1907. Hundreds of localities, thousands of Azerbaijanis have become the victims of Armenian terror as a result of bloody events in Baku and other towns and villages of Azerbaijan. In March 1918 Bolshevik-Dashnak Baku commune under pretence of the struggle against counter-revolution inflicted the national slaughter and began to ЬЭГДСЭСРЕ the odious plan, having for an object to clean the Baku province from Azerbaijanis. There have been killed thousands of peaceful people, burned up and smashed up the pearls of the architecture, mosques, schools and other cultural monuments in Baku and provinces.

The policy of deportation and genocide against Azerbaijanis implemented by Armenians, masked skillfully under the idea of internationalism also have been carrying out during the Soviet rule. With help of Soviet Russia Zangezur and other Azerbaijani lands have been declared as the territories of Armenia. The Armenians achieved their goal to implement mass deportation of Azerbaijanis from their historical lands in 1948 - 1953 at the state level reached the resolution of the USSR leadership, carrying out the policy of discrimination against Turkish-Muslim republics.

The Armenians, feeling the patronage and sympathy of the USSR leaders have been continuing with territorial claims to Azerbaijan. In the middle of 80s, when the destructive processes, named rebuilding (Perestroyka) have expanded, the Armenian extremism and separatism have become to rage with new power. Tens of thousands of our people have died, hundreds of thousands of our compatriots have been expatriated from their historical lands as a result of conflict, kindling by the leadership of the USSR. More than million of Azerbaijanis have been had to endure the sorrow and suffering of the destiny of the refugees and ITPs. On January 19, 1990 USSR authorities and the leadership of the republic, refusing to implement its constitutional duty, committed the unprecedented brutalities, killed hundreds of Azerbaijanis arising to defend their national rights and territorial integrity. In February 1992 the Armenian military units with the direct help of the soviet forces committed the terrible tragedy that had not the analogy in the modern history. Thousands of defenders and peaceful residents of Azerbaijani town Khojali were killed and taken prisoner, the town was razed to the ground. The purpose of those unprecedented acts of vandalism and genocide was the frightening of our nation, undermining its tendency to fight.

The process of deportation has been accompanying by the genocide on ethnic basis, mass murders of people, destruction of localities and national monuments of culture. About 2 millions of Azerbaijanis felt the consequences of the policy of the genocide in the 20th century.

The purposeful policy of genocide and deportation, carrying out by our guileful and cruel enemies has been accompanying from the beginning by large-scale, well thought-out information war. With this aim, they have used different methods and means what they had in their arsenal. As a result the history of Azerbaijan and the whole Caucasus has been falsified, the history of Armenians has been exaggerated and become more ancient, the campaign of sharp moral aggression against Azerbaijanis has begun. The events, happening in Caucasus have been distorted specially, the image of “poor, unhappy, long-suffering Armenian nation“ has been creating for the society of West and Russia. The rich monuments of culture, music and other material-moral specimens of our people have been taken for Armenians own and even at present they make such attempts. The Armenian communities, living in different countries of the world and carrying out the organized activity, the Armenian lobby have influence on the political activity of big countries of the world have been carrying out the planned work for many decades.

Touching it, we have aim to inform our people the importance of the realization of the activity in the field of information struggle. The great work in the informing of the world society about the real events in our country, suffering of our people, the stirring up of the activity of Azerbaijani communities and lobbies in different countries has made by the Azerbaijani state and its leadership. But there is a lot to do in future.

Dear compatriots! Brothers and sisters!

As you see, the grave crimes have been regularly committing against our nation during the years, guileful plans have been carrying out. By its heaviness, scale and consequences they should be characterized as the crimes against humanity, get international political-legal assessment, their ideologist and organizers must get deserved punishment. The achievement of all of these is our common task.

Saying about it, we do not aim at propagandizing of the enmity in respect of whole nations. This way has not a perspective. We have no right to forget those events and lessons. The absence of historical memory and the oblivion can create the insuperable obstacles in the resolving of important, historical problems of our people. Our purpose is to learn the lessons of all of these, liquidate consequences, bring up the present and future generation to be vigilant to enemy forces and plans, acting against our nation.

Once more, I revere the memory of the victims of the genocide and wish my people the peace, prosperity and firm struggle in the name of our independent Azerbaijani state.

Heydar Aliyev
The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Baku city, March 29, 2000