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Karabakh Foreign Minister At Congressional Commemoration Of Sumgait

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  • Karabakh Foreign Minister At Congressional Commemoration Of Sumgait

    KARABAKH FOREIGN MINISTER AT CONGRESSIONAL COMMEMORATION OF SUMGAIT AND BAKU MASSACRES

    asbarez
    Tuesday, March 1st, 2011

    Karabakh Foreign Minister Georgi Petrossian

    WASHINGTON-Nagorno Karabakh Republic Foreign Minister Georgi Petrossian
    joined with members of the Congressional Armenian Caucus Monday evening
    at a Capitol Hill remembrance honoring the victims of the Azerbaijani
    pogroms in Sumgait and Baku, reported the Armenian National Committee
    of America.

    "In marking this solemn occasion, we are reminded of the terrible
    costs of Azerbaijan's aggression for all the peoples of the region. We
    draw from this remembrance an added measure of devotion to defending
    the hard-earned liberty enjoyed today by the free citizens of
    the Nagorno Karabakh Republic," said ANCA Executive Director Aram
    Hamparian. "Sadly, the Aliyev neo-monarchy running Azerbaijan shares
    neither our commitment to peace nor our devotion to democracy, and
    - with little protest from the U.S. government - has openly opted
    -through its vast military build-up, threatening and hateful rhetoric,
    and outright acts of aggression - for a path toward renewed war."

    Representatives Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Elliot
    Engel (D-NY) and Brad Sherman (D-CA) joined in commemorating the
    Azerbaijani attacks against Armenians in Sumgait in 1988 and Baku in
    1990, which set the stage for over two decades of Azerbaijani violence
    against Armenia and Karabakh. Rep. Engel explained that "Whether it is
    massacres in Sumgait or Baku or any place else, or whether it is the
    Armenian Genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire, it's something
    that we have to always remember and always recall and never forget it
    and teach it to our children and teach it to our children's children
    - so that things like this will never happen again and tyrants will
    know that we can't sweep things like this under the rug."

    Rep. Frank Pallone Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone
    concurred, noting that "those who say that somehow not talking about
    the Genocide is a good thing need to be reminded that it is not in
    the past for Armenians and it is not in the past for the victims of
    genocide." Rep.

    Eshoo focused on the important role Armenian Americans play in ensuring
    not only that the Sumgait and Baku pogroms are not forgotten but in
    securing a strong U.S.-Armenia relationship. "We have our work cut
    out for us in Congress - and that work is to ensure that Armenia
    and Nagorno Karabakh maintain our full and robust support. That is
    something that is not a given. We have to fight for that. We have to
    earn that support. We have a lot of new members of Congress now and
    they need to be educated as well. That means keeping the pressure on
    Azerbaijan through the Freedom Support Act, even as two presidents
    have waived that."

    Foreign Minister Petrossian, noting that he wished he could address
    attendees on a happier occasion than one marking the tragedies of
    Sumgait, Baku and Maragha, stated, "On February 20, 1988, the people
    of Karabakh expressed their will, and utilizing the relevant legal
    framework, petitioned the Soviet authorities of the time to resolve
    the Karabakh issue. The events in Sumgait took place exactly eight
    days later. To this day, Azerbaijan argues that Sumgait and Baku were
    a chapter in their struggle for independence from the Soviet Union
    and that Armenians were somehow hindering that effort. The Bible
    says that there is no secret which can be hidden permanently, and God
    willing, the truth and the perpetrators of these heinous crimes will
    one day be brought to light and justice." The Foreign Minister went
    on to explain that the Sumgait massacres were the beginnings of broad
    ethnic cleansing efforts in Azerbaijan that the Azerbaijani government
    intended to extend to Karabakh as well. "Every person, every nation,
    has the right to live free; every person, every nation has the right
    to defend itself," noted Petrossian. "The people of Karabakh asserted
    that right - that God-given right - and will never give it up."

    Earlier in the day, Minister Petrossian had an opportunity to meet
    with regional experts at the Center for Strategic and International
    Studies (CSIS), where he discussed the current status of the Karabakh
    peace process.

    Representatives Anna Eshoo and John Engel In his remarks, Armenian
    Ambassador Tatoul Markarian decried Azerbaijani Government efforts
    to subvert the truth regarding the massacres in Sumgait and Baku -
    spending millions internationally to advance their distorted view of
    history. "Inspired by oil revenues, exploiting our constructiveness,
    our focus on negotiations, the Azeris have unleashed an entire
    propaganda war, trying to buy international loyalty, revise history
    and create a favorable atmosphere for themselves," noted Markarian,
    who pledged increased efforts worldwide to bring the truth to light
    about the Azerbaijani crimes against the Armenian people.

    Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, Diocesan Legate of the Eastern Diocese
    of the Armenian Church of North America, thanked the Congressional
    organizers of the event and offered a closing prayer.

    Participants viewed a moving video presentation detailing the events
    of the Sumgait pogroms at the beginning of the program, which was
    organized by the Congressional Armenian Caucus, in cooperation with
    the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia, Office of the Nagorno Karabakh
    Representative in the U.S., along with the Armenian National Committee
    of America and the Armenian Assembly of America.

    Days earlier, the Greater Washington DC area Armenian Youth Federation
    had teamed up with the St. Mary's Armenian Church Youth Organization
    in holding a protest in front of the Azerbaijani Embassy in memory
    of the victims of Sumgait and Baku pogroms and calling attention
    to Azerbaijan's ongoing threats and aggression against Armenia and
    Karabakh. Similar protests and vigils have been held in capitals
    around the world including Ottawa, Athens, Moscow, Armenia, and the
    Nagorno Karabakh Republic, among others.

    On the evening of February 27, 1988, a three-day rampage against
    Armenian civilians living in Sumgait, Soviet Azerbaijan began.

    Armenian civilians, whose calls for help from police were ignored,
    were at the mercy of Azerbaijani rioters, who murdered, raped, and
    maimed Armenians, throwing women and children from windows and burning
    victims alive, as Azerbaijani authorities watched for three days,
    even though the capital Baku was only a half hour away. Reports from
    the Financial Times and New York Times noted Armenians being "hunted"
    down and killed in their homes. A review of the events of Sumgait
    and Baku massacres, as well as the U.S. response, is available on
    the ANCA fact sheet.

    Video and photos from the event are posted on the ANCA website




    From: A. Papazian
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