The Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) has issued a statement commemorating the anniversary of the Sumgait massacres and calling for Azerbaijan to be held accountable for human rights violations.

The Assembly recalls the 37th anniversary of the Sumgait massacres, a brutal, premeditated attack against the Armenian population of Sumgait, Azerbaijan. It reminds that violence against peaceful Armenians began on February 27, 1988, and lasted until March 1, during which the attackers, armed with the addresses of Armenian residents, murdered, severely injured, looted, and vandalized their homes over three days.

"News of the massacres spread widely through major media outlets, but Azerbaijani state-sponsored violence escalated, leading to further massacres in Baku, Kirovabad, and Maragha in the late 1980s and early 1990s," the statement reads.

According to the Assembly, anti-Armenian violence was Azerbaijan’s response to the legal right of self-determination for the Armenians of Artsakh, which was upheld by human rights advocates worldwide.

"The ethnic cleansing of the Armenian people reached its brutal climax in September 2020 during the 44-day war, when Azerbaijan launched an unjustified attack on Artsakh, followed by the forced displacement of its Armenian population," the statement continues.

The Armenian Assembly of America also condemned Azerbaijan’s ongoing hostility, as well as the illegal detention of Armenian prisoners of war, civilians, and officials. The organization called on the international community to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its crimes against humanity.

Between February 26 and 29, 1988, the Sumgait massacres in Soviet Azerbaijan marked the first large-scale ethnic violence in modern Soviet history. The three-day rampage involved mass killings, looting, and brutal attacks, prompting the first wave of Armenian refugees fleeing to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. The massacres were never properly investigated, and the perpetrators were neither identified nor punished, further fueling violence against Armenians in Azerbaijan and Artsakh.