Oil factor had role in Maragha tragedy, Armenian MP says

PanARMENIAN.Net - Member of the Armenian National Assembly Larisa Alaverdyan said that Maragha village, which was one of the largest settlements of Nagorno Karabakh, was located 2km of Mir-Bashir town and an oil pipeline was laid via the settlement’s territory.

Alaverdyan, who was the executive director of Fund Against Violation of Law NGO in 1992, told a press conference in Yerevan that eyewitnesses of the massacre of Armenians in Maragha settlement think that oil factor played an important role in the April 10, 1992, tragedy.

According to data of the organization led by Alaverdyan, 52 people were massacred by Azerbaijan and 57 people were taken hostages, including 9 children. The destiny of 19 people remains unknown.

Alaverdyan believes that the tragedy was a result of the anti-Armenian and xenophobic policy pursued by the newly established Azerbaijani Republic at the state level.

52 people were massacred in Maragha (Leninavan) settlement, Mardakert region, on April 10, 1992. 57 people were taken hostages, including 9 children and 18 women. The destiny of 19 people is still unknown. The slaughter continued on April 22-23, when the survived residents of Maragha returned to bury those dead. The data is confirmed by Helsinki Watch international human rights organization.

The Maragha tragedy is viewed as one of the most horrible examples of genocide and is considered among Azerbaijan's bloody crimes in Getashen, Martunashen, Buzluh, Erkej and other settlements in the north of Nagorno Karabakh Republic at the time of aggression in 1991-1992.