Excerpts of confidential report of Armenian diplomatic envoy to Azerbaijan to Minister of Foreign Affairs on atrocities in Karabagh
M[inistry] [of] F[oreign] A[ffairs], Republic of Armenia
Political Diplomatic Mission to Azerbaijan
16 April 1920
No. 665
With regard to the events in Karabagh, until today we do not have official information from more or less reliable Armenian sources. Letters at our disposal received from Tatar soldiers or volunteers, who were there or participated in the clashes, shed considerable light on the events in Azerbaijan and the horrible atrocities committed by the Azerbaijani soldiers. The letters are addressed to their relatives and family members; although written in concise or informal language, these letters describe the massacres and looting taking place in Shushi and neighboring villages. In those letters Tatars are once more demonstrating that they cannot distinguish between armed fighters and unarmed, defenseless women, children, and the elderly. When they do not succeed in destroying armed troops or reducing their power, they take their revenge upon peaceful citizens, subjecting them to barbaric massacres, burning their houses and looting their belongings.
[…]
Diplomatic Representative (Signature)
Secretary
[Republic of Armenia Archives, File No. 70]
The Karabagh File, Documents and Facts, 1918-1988, First Edition, Cambridge Toronto 1988, by the ZORYAN INSTITUTE, edited by: Gerard J. LIBARIDIAN, pp. 29-30
