On 29 September Azerbaijanis, especially those who have been displaced by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, marked the 20th anniversary of the occupation of Khojavand by Armenian forces. Khojavand, known in Soviet times as Martuni, is the southern part of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Around a thousand people from the region, led by the Head of the Executive Authority of the Khojavend District, Eyvaz Huseynov participated in a march towards the heights of Nargiztepe, a small part of the region that remains under Azerbaijani control.
Inews.az reported that "some protesters wore T-shirts with portraits of martyrs who died fighting for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and carried flags of Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as banners condemning the occupation of Azerbaijani territories. They shouted slogans 'Karabakh or death', 'Freedom for Karabakh', 'We will definitely be back!' 'Karabakh, calls us home!'."
Khojavend region was occupied on 2 October 1992. However after heavy fighting in 1993-1994, Azerbaijani troops regained the heights of Nargiztepe where a memorial for those who died in the battle and an Azerbaijani flag stand 350 meters away from Armenian troops on the other side of the line of contact.
source: commonspace.eu with 1news.az
photo: Displaced persons from Khojavand march towards Nargiztepe on 29 September 2012. (Picture from facebook page of Khadihja Ismayilova)
