The victims of the tragedy were commemorated in a ceremony in Baku, attended by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday. In the ceremony, Aliyev put wreath in front of the monument and stood at attention in order to show respect.

Azerbaijani Diaspora organizations will also hold commemorative events on the 16th anniversary of Khojaly tragedy in 60 cities of the world. Press service of the State Committee on Work with Azerbaijanis Living Abroad told APA the majority of the commemorative events will take place with participation of Turkish Diaspora organizations.

The Khojaly Massacre was the killing of hundreds of civilians ethnic Azerbaijani rom the town of Khojaly on 25 February 1992 during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. According to the Azerbaijani side, as well as Memorial Human Rights Center, Human Rights Watch and other international observers, the massacre was committed by the ethnic Armenian armed forces, reportedly with help of then Russian Regime. The official death toll provided by Azerbaijani authorities is 613 civilians, of them 106 women and 83 children. However the Armenia officially denies its involvement and refuses to take responsibility for it. Some Armenian groups have even invented alternate stories alleging that Azerbaijanis killed their own people for political aims.