Yerevan hosts Maraghar-20th Century Golgotha project presentation

September 9, 2010 - 15:40 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Xenophobia Prevention Initiative presented a new website and a film highlighting tragic events which occurred on April 10, 1992 in the village of Maraghar.

The Maragha.org trilingual website provides information about the genocide of the villagers perpetrated by Azeri forces. This project is an attempt to show the real history of Maraghar, in hopes of preventing repetition of such tragedies in future. “We hope our website will help people realize the disastrous consequences of the war. Today, Azerbaijan encourages crimes, awarding a national hero title to the officer who killed an Armenian soldier,” information security expert Samvel Martirosyan stressed.

On April 10, 1992, forces from Azerbaijan attacked the Armenian village of Maraghar in northeastern Karabakh. The villagers awoke at 7 a.m. to the sound of heavy shelling; then tanks rolled in, followed by infantry, followed by civilians with pick-up trucks to take home the pickings of the looting they knew would follow the eviction of the villagers.

Azeri soldiers sawed off the heads of 45 villagers, burnt others, took 100 women and children away as hostages, looted and set fire to all the homes, and left with all the pickings from the looting.