Congressman Schiff commemorates 22nd anniversary of Sumgait pogrom

Congressman Schiff commemorates 22nd anniversary of Sumgait pogrom

PanARMENIAN.Net - Congressman Adam Schiff released a statement commemorating the twenty-second anniversary of the Sumgait Pogrom, the 3-day massacre in the winter of 1988 that resulted in the deaths of scores of Armenians, Mr. Sean Oblack, spokesman for Rep. Schiff, told PanARMENIAN.Net

Below are Rep. Schiff’s full remarks, which will be entered into the Congressional Record:

“Madam Speaker, this past Sunday marked the twenty-second anniversary of the pogrom against Azerbaijanis of Armenian descent in the town of Sumgait, Azerbaijan. The 3-day massacre in the winter of 1988 resulted in the deaths of scores of Armenians, many of whom were burnt to death after being brutally beaten and tortured. Hundreds of others were wounded. Women and girls were brutally raped. The carnage created thousands of ethnic Armenian refugees, who had to leave everything behind to be looted or destroyed, including their homes, cars and businesses.

“These crimes, which were proceeded by a wave of anti-Armenian rallies throughout Azerbaijan, were never adequately prosecuted by Azerbaijan authorities. Many who organized or participated in the bloodshed have gone on to serve in high positions on the Azeri government. For example, in the days leading up to the massacre, a leader of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, Hidayat Orujev, warned Armenians in Sumgait: "If you do not stop campaigning for the unification of Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia, if you don't sober up, 100,000 Azeris from neighboring districts will break into your houses, torch your apartments, rape your women, and kill your children." Orujev is currently the State Advisor for Ethnic Policy to Azeri President Heidar Aliyev.

“Despite efforts by the Government of Azerbaijan to cover up the events of February 1988, survivors of the pogrom have come forward with their stories. They told of enraged mobs, which threw furniture, refrigerators, television sets and beds from apartment balconies and set them afire. Armenians were dragged from their apartments. If they tried to run and escape, the mob attacked them with metal rods, knives and hatchets before the victims were thrown into the fire. One witness said of a victim, “He was still moving, trying to escape from fire, but five young men were pushing him back into the fire with metal rods.” Others told of Interior Ministry troops, who stood by doing nothing.

The Sumgait Pogrom

The Sumgait Pogrom was the Azeri-led pogrom that targeted the Armenian population living in the Azerbaijani seaside town of Sumgait in February 1988. On February 27, 1988, large mobs made up of Azeris formed into groups that went on to attack and kill Armenians in both on the streets and in their apartments; widespread looting and a general lack of concern from police officers allowed the situation to worsen. The violent acts in Sumgait were unprecedented in scope in the Soviet Union and attracted a great deal of attention from the media in the West. The massacre came in light of the Nagorno-Karabakh movement that was gaining traction in the neighbouring Armenia SSR.

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