Politics 17:04 27/02/2017 Region

In Sumgait, Azerbaijanis killed Armenians, who had built that young industrial city, professor says

In Sumgait, Azerbaijanis killed Armenians, who had built that young industrial city, professor says

Prolonged conflicts lead to destabilization. Besides, misleading information or the so-called rewriting the history also contributes to conflicts. The Karabakh conflict is an example of a prolonged conflict. Baku tragic events in January 1990 – the Armenian pogroms accompanied by mass violence against the Armenian population, robberies, killings, arsons, and destruction of property – marked the beginning of the conflict, Lithuanian Russian language radio program LRT informs.

The reporter Olga Ugryumova reminds that according to Human Rights Watch speaker Robert Kushen, the Baku pogroms were not spontaneous, as their perpetrators had the list and names of the Armenians.

On January 18, 1990, the European Parliament adopted a Resolution on the situation in Armenia calling the European Council on Foreign Relations and the Council of Europe to intercede for the Armenians before the Soviet government and requiring to provide immediate assistance to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

The same day, a group of American senators sent a joint letter to president Mikhail Gorbachev expressing concern over the pogroms of the Armenians in Baku and calling to reunite Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.

On July 20, 1990, an open letter to the international community was published in New York Times. In the letter, intellectuals expressed their protest against the pogroms of the Armenians in the territory of the Azerbaijan SSR making a parallel with the Armenian Genocide. Intellectuals urged to prevent immediately the pogroms of the Armenians, as well as condemned the blockade of Armenia by Azerbaijan. 133 well known human rights defenders, scientists, and public figures from Europe, Canada, and the USA signed the letter.
The reporter of the program notes that after a long period of time, the Azerbaijani government and media, as well as international media present quite a different picture. Professor of Yerevan State University, PhD in political science Alexander Manasyan commented on the situation.

“You have raised a very important question. The issue is politicized not only by Azerbaijan, but as you mentioned, also by several western circles,” Manasyan said emphasizing that the politicization does not give the opportunity to tell the truth and show the objective reality.

The professor noted that January 1990 is included in Azerbaijan’s political calendar as “black January.” That “label of tragedy” has been weight out for more than a quarter of a century.

What was happening in Baku in the first days of the 20th century’s last decade? Why that month was named “black” in Baku? Manasyan emphasized that the events cannot be interpreted in isolation from the historical context. This is the period of the collapse of the USSR, which was marked by events in the Nagorno-Karabakh significant for the history of the Soviet Empire. Nagorno-Karabakh was an autonomous Armenian region created on the Armenian lands, which had been handed to Soviet Azerbaijan.

On February 20, 1988, Armenia raised the question of including the region in the Armenian SSR. NKAO Council of Peoples’ Deputies’ decision was made in form of an appeal and petition to the Supreme Councils of the Azerbaijani SSR, Armenian SSR, and the USSR in order to discuss the issue and make a positive decision. In a week, in response to the political petition, unprecedented events, which shocked the USSR nations, took place in Sumgait – 25 km away from Baku. The devastated crowd organized by the authorities in Baku began the massacre of the innocent Armenians according to addresses and lists chosen beforehand. The professor emphasizes that it could not happen without the authorities’ permission, which found its confirmation in the Center’s behavior and subsequent events in the Azerbaijan SSR.

“The genocidal act took place in Sumgait against people, who had created that young industrial city and were in no way involved in the Karabakh movement. The Center not only avoided to call things by their proper name, but also stated that the events were the result of the Sumgait youth assaults, who were allegedly in ‘difficult social conditions.’ In Baku, it was perceived as a justification of the vandalism acts, and the authorities gave permission to continue in the same spirit,” Manasyan stated.

In the political scientist’s opinion, Karabakh was chosen as a detonator, a trigger of the project of the USSR collapse. He noted that the survey on the links between the USSR collapse project and January 1990 events in Baku needs a more detailed study.

“Sumgait’s genocidal act directly worked for the USSR collapse. I remember how the USSR nations, especially Baltic people, reacted to the tragedy of the Armenian nation, which showed that ‘the great and all-powerful nuclear country (USSR)’ had no force to protect its citizens’ physical security. Pogroms of the Armenians followed almost throughout the whole territory of Azerbaijan. Only the Armenians in Karabakh, who had centuries-old history of such experience, could show an organized resistance to the vandals,” the professor highlighted.

On 26-29 February 1988 in terms of actual complicity of local authorities and inaction of the USSR government mass pogroms of civilians were organized in Sumgait city of Azerbaijani SSR, accompanied with unprecedented brutal murders, violence and pillaging against the Armenian population of the city. Armenian pogroms in Sumgait were carefully organized. At the meetings, which began on February 26 in the central square, city leaders openly called for violence against the Armenians.

On February 27 protests which were attended by hundreds of rioters turned into violence. Armed with axes, knives, specially sharpened rebar, rocks and cans of gasoline and with the pre-compiled lists of apartments where Armenians lived the rioters broke into the houses, turning everything upside down there and killing the owners. In the same time, people were often taken out to the streets or to the courtyard for jeering at them publicly. After painful humiliations and torture the victims were doused with gasoline and burnt alive. On February 29 army troops entered Sumgait but without an order to intervene. Only in the evening, when the mad crowd began to attack the soldiers the military units took up decisive steps.

The exact number of victims of Sumgait pogroms is still unknown. According to official data, 27 Armenians were killed; however there is ample evidence that several hundred Armenians have been killed in the city in three days. There is also evidence that the riots were coordinated by the Azerbaijani KGB. Executioners of Sumgait were subsequently declared as national heroes of Azerbaijan.

Documentary “Ordinary Genocide: Sumgait 1988.”



Source Panorama.am
Share |

Related news

Տեքստում սխալ կամ վրիպակ նկատելու դեպքում, ուղարկեք խմբագրին հաղորդագրություն` նշելով տվյալ սխալը, այնուհետև սեղմելով Ctrl-Enter:

Newsfeed

17:12
She said yes: Marriage proposal at Hayat Project concert in Gyumri
A young man proposed to his beloved at a Hayat Project concert in Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city. In a video posted online, the...
16:45
Opposition MP slams Pashinyan's Artsakh statements
Opposition Hayastan faction MP Ishkhan Saghatelyan has expressed support to the Artsakh government in exile following Armenian Prime Minister...
16:04
MP Aghvan Vardanyan visits arrested activists
MP Aghvan Vardanyan, who represents the opposition Hayastan faction, on Thursday visited the Armavir Penitentiary where activists Vazgen...
15:36
Armenian opposition MP visits border villages
Opposition MP Tigran Abrahamyan has visited the villages of Voskepar and Baghanis in Tavush Province adjacent to the border areas demanded by...
15:04
Ex-Yerevan mayor setting up new party
Former Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan is setting up a new party in the near future, his team has confirmed to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service....
14:36
Armenia to send 29.94 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza
Armenia will deliver 29.94 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza ravaged by the conflict with Israel. The decision was approved at a cabinet...
14:07
Expert: Pashinyan decided to terrorize Artsakh leaders
Political analyst Suren Surenyants has criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statements on Artsakh leaders at a cabinet meeting on...
13:35
Analyst: The West doesn't care about Armenia
The West wants Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a peace treaty as soon as possible and Armenia's territorial losses do not matter to it,...
13:06
Moscow concerned over anti-Russian bias of Armenia-EU-US meeting
The Armenia-EU-US meeting scheduled for April 5 is causing Moscow’s concern as Washington and Brussels are openly discussing its...
12:37
Pashinyan: Some circles displaced from Karabakh take actions threatening Armenia's security
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warns that the actions taken by “some circles” forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)...
12:04
Artsakh dissolution decree was 'the only way' to save people, president says
President Samvel Shahramanyan claims his decree ordering the dissolution of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Republic was the “only...
11:30
Japanese supplement products recalled after two deaths and over 100 people hospitalized
Health supplement products believed to have caused two deaths and sickened more than 100 people have been ordered to be taken off store shelves...
11:15
Today is Holy Thursday
The week leading up to Easter or Holy Resurrection is called Holy Week (in Armenian Avak Shabat). During this period, the Armenian Apostolic...
11:00
Upcoming Armenia-US-EU meeting not directed against any third party – Foreign Ministry
The high-level meeting scheduled for April 5 in Brussels is aimed at strengthening Armenia-EU-US cooperation and is not directed against...
17:00
Azerbaijan's team opts out of Sambo World Cup in Yerevan
Azerbaijan's national team will not participate in the Sambo World Cup to be held in Yerevan, Armenia, Azerbaijani Sambo Federation official...
16:45
Biden calls Putin 'butcher'
US President Joe Biden has disparaged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the second time in two months, publicly calling him a...
16:30
Armenian parliament speaker defends land handover to Azerbaijan
Armenian National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan has defended the plans to hand over border villages in Tavush Province to Azerbaijan. He...
16:04
Azerbaijan must create conditions for safe return of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh, UK says
The UK government is clear that Azerbaijan must create the conditions for a safe and secure return of ethnic Armenians who were displaced from...
15:35
Photo campaign calls for release of political prisoners in Armenia
A photo campaign for the release of Armenian opposition activists has been launched in Yerevan. Photos of political prisoners Narek...
15:15
Arthur Abraham's father dies at 68
German-Armenian boxing star Arthur Abraham’s father, Grigor Abrahamyan, has died in Berlin at the age of 68. “We’re deeply...
15:00
Armenian MP warns of threats after possible land handover to Azerbaijan
Opposition MP Tigran Abrahamyan has warned of threats to a number of settlements in Armenia amid Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s signaled...
14:31
EU mission hosts French ambassador to Armenia
The EU Mission in Armenia (EUMA) on Wednesday hosted French Ambassador to Armenia Olivier Decottignies and members of the French...
14:06
Azerbaijan opposes Armenia-EU-US conference
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has deplored the EU-Armenia-US joint conference scheduled for 5 April, warning that it will create...
13:36
Political prisoner Vazgen Saghatelyan slams Pashinyan in letter from prison
Political prisoner Vazgen Saghatelyan has blasted Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his regime for efforts to silence their critics in...
12:34
U.S. aims to encourage Armenia and Azerbaijan to bridge differences – State Dept.
The objective of the United States is to encourage Armenia and Azerbaijan to bridge their differences, U.S. State Department...
12:15
Ukraine tells EU to hand over 'missing' €5B in Russian asset profits
Ukraine is pushing for another €5 billion from the proceeds generated by frozen Russian assets that the EU has decided to withhold from the...
12:00
Eurovision 2024: Semi-final running orders revealed
The running orders of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 semi-finals have been revealed. Armenia’s Ladaniva will perform 8th in the...
11:45
Today marks Holy Wednesday
The week leading up to Easter or Holy Resurrection is called Holy Week (in Armenian Avak Shabat). During this period, the Armenian Apostolic...
11:30
Denialists Erdogan and Netanyahu shamefully exploit the term genocide to bash each other
By Harut Sassounian www.thecaliforniacourier.com For several decades, Israel and Turkey were in a honeymoon, supporting each other...
11:10
SME loan portfolio of Ameriabank reported more than 30% growth in 2023
The small and medium enterprise (SME) loan portfolio of Ameriabank increased by more than 30% in 2023 to reach to AMD 222.6 billion as of...

Follow us and get updates!

Most popular articles

{"core.blocks.header.spell_message1":"Selected mistake: ","core.blocks.header.spell_message2":"Send a message about the mistake?"}