Soldiers of the army of Azerbaijan during the Nagorno-Karabakh War, circa 1992/1993. Photo: Ilgar Jafarov via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The American Sephardi Federation and the Muslim American Leadership Alliance of New York held a special event last week remembering victims of the 1992 Khojaly genocide in Azerbaijan.

The ceremony was in memory of the 613 people — including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people — killed in the massacre committed by Armenian armed forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh War between 1988 and 1994.

Vugar Gurbanov, counselor for the Embassy Azerbaijan in the United States, delivered a speech following an interfaith prayer service and labeled the event, organized by Jewish and Muslim organizations, “a good example of interfaith cooperation.”

The occasion was backed by the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the United States and the Azerbaijan State Committee on Work with the Diaspora. Azerbaijan and Israel maintain close ties.

The war ended in a ceasefire followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has yet to apply four UN Security Council resolutions to withdraw its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding areas.