After the February 1988 Sumgait massacres and brutal crimes against Armenians we never thought the same might happen in Baku, a town with a population of 1.5 million, with 200.000 being Armenians, said Eleonora Avanesova, one of survivors of Armenian pogroms in Baku.

"Even before the pogroms, Armenians in Azerbaijan always suffered from infringements upon their rights," she told Wednesday a news conference in Yerevan.

"I worked in a scientific institute where my articles were always undersigned by other authors My name was at best indicated as a co-author," Avanesova stressed.

According to her, Armenian pogroms in Baku were very well organized, as Azeri gangster groups possessed lists with the names and addresses of all Armenians.

As noted by Robert Khachatryan, another eye-witness, "The pogroms reached their peak on January 13, 1990 after Azerbaijan's Supreme Council passed a decision on withdrawing from USSR."

"Azerbaijani official sources reported 56 people dead, but Armenian experts say 270 Armenians were killed during the pogroms. According to other sources, the number of victims reached 1000," he said, adding that the atrocities against Armenians in Baku can be characterized as Genocide.