Scientific-practical conference dedicated to 31 March – Genocide Day of Azerbaijanis was held at Sumgayit State University.

At first, the memory of the genocide victims commemorated with a minute of silence.

Rector of University Professor Elkhan Huseynov, made a welcome speech and notified that through the history Armenians pursued an aggressive policy against our nation and time by time they made genocides against our nation with an aim to establish the Great Armenian state from sea to sea, meanwhile they made their key goal to get our historical lands with the help of their supporters. In 1918, Armenians killed widely about thousands of peaceful people in Baku. Besides, such kind of action of Armenians continued in the regions of the country such as, Guba, Khachmaz, Shamakhi, Lankaran, Hajiqabul, Salyan Zengezur, Garabagh, Nakhchivan and etc. During the March terrible events many cities and regions of the country were ruined. Namely, Shusha, the city of Garabagh region underwent unbelievable massacre and destruction. Meanwhile, during these terrible actions more than 50 thousand Azerbaijani people including 30 thousand people in Baku were killed and some mosques, schools and other venues were burnt and ruined. Besides, only in Zangazur were ruined 115 villages as well as 211 villages in Iravan Khanate. Arrival of Caucasus Islamic Army to Azerbaijan under the command of Nuru Pasha prevented the massacre.

The rector noted as well that since the return of the great leader Haydar Aliyev to the power, he took a strong attitude towards this matter and made a lot in order to reveal the real face of Armenian nationalists which consisted of genocides and deportation acts against our nation. The genocides and deportation acts against our nation has gained a political status on the basis of Decree “About genocide of Azerbaijani people” by a great leader issued on March 26 in 1998. Nowadays, under the leadership of the President Ilham Aliyev many consistent and expedient works are done in order to remove the results of Armenian aggression, to provide the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our republic and to propagate the fair position of the country among the leading countries and reputable organizations of the world. The role of Haydar Aliyev Foundation in this direction shall be specially underlined. That body makes a lot of projects in this direction under the leadership of Mehriban Aliyeva, the first Vice-president of our country. Namely, Haydar Aliyev Foundation set a target to deliver the realities on genocide to the world’s attention by the means of several projects and activities.

The following lecturers made speeches in the event: dean of the History and geography faculty Professor Adil Bakhshaliyev – “31 March 1918 genocide: massacre committed in Baku”; docent of Department of History and its teaching methods Samir Karimli – “Massacres committed in Azerbaijani regions by Armenians in 1918”; head of Department of Azerbaijani and foreign countries’ literature Profesor Avtandil Mammadov – “Deportation of Azerbaijanis from Western Azerbaijan”; senior lecturer of Department of History and its teaching methods Nofel Abdullayev – “About historical importance of Order of Heydar Aliyev dated 26 March, 1998”. Relying on the facts, the speakers widely spoke about the genocides and massacres made by Armenians in the native territories of Azerbaijan.