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PROCESSION IN MEMORY OF VICTIMS OF SUMGAIT POGROMS AND COMMEMORATION OF GURGEN MARGARYAN'S MURDER WAS HELD IN LONDON
20:34 24/02/2014 >> REGION
Yesterday, the Armenians in London held a protest in connection with
the 26th anniversary of Sumgait pogroms and the 10th anniversary of
Gurgen Margaryan's murder. The Council of the Armenian community of
the UK posted a message in this connection on its site.
According to information, the procession was held on the Trafalgar
Square, London.
It is noted that the marchers expressed their protest against the
pardon of Ramil Safarov, who had brutally murdered the Armenian
officer. They have also commemorated the victims of the Sumgait
pogroms that had taken place in 1988.
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, 32 people 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 KGB in Azerbaijan. Executioners of Sumgait were
subsequently declared as national heroes of Azerbaijan.
Documentary "Ordinary Genocide: Sumgait 1988."
In 2004, Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan was taking part in
a three-month English course of NATO "Partnership for Peace" in
Budapest. Early in the morning of February 19 he was murdered. The
murderer - Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov - delivered 16 blows
of ax to the face of the sleeping Armenian officer. As a result, the
Hungarian court found him sane and sentenced him to life imprisonment
without a right of pardon for 30 years. The news about the extradition
of Ramil Safarov to his homeland and pardon by the Azerbaijani
president Ilham Aliyev broke out on August 31.
The pardoned murderer Ramil Safarov was greeted as a hero in
Azerbaijan; he was given an apartment and was paid an officer salary
for 8 years spent in detention. Moreover, Safarov was breveted
Major by the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, who also wished him
"every success."
Because of Safarov's extradition to Azerbaijan the president of Armenia
Serzh Sargsyan announced the suspension of diplomatic relations
with Hungary. Safarov's extradition, pardon, and glorification in
Azerbaijan was condemned by the US president Barack Obama, US State
Department, Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Russia and France,
Secretary General of Council of Europe, Secretary General of CSTO,
NATO, and international human rights organizations. In addition to
that, European Parliament adopted a condemning resolution on September
13, 2012.
On February 19, is the 10th anniversary of commemoration of Armenian
officer's death. To the 10th anniversary of Gurgen Margaryan's murder
in the frameworks of the "Ordinary Genocide" project a video-footage
has been prepared called "Azerbaijan: Racism without borders." The
video footage is in English , Russian and Hungarian. It concisely
presents the history of the murder that had stunned the world, as well
as the programs following the incident and Safarov's glorification in
Azerbaijan.It is significant that the authors chose Symphony number 7
("Leningrad") by Dmitri Shostakovich known as "the invasion of the
Nazis" as a soundtrack for the footage.
The "Ordinary Genocide" project is being implemented by the Information
and Public Relations Center under the RA President's administration.
Source: Panorama.am
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
20:34 24/02/2014 >> REGION
Yesterday, the Armenians in London held a protest in connection with
the 26th anniversary of Sumgait pogroms and the 10th anniversary of
Gurgen Margaryan's murder. The Council of the Armenian community of
the UK posted a message in this connection on its site.
According to information, the procession was held on the Trafalgar
Square, London.
It is noted that the marchers expressed their protest against the
pardon of Ramil Safarov, who had brutally murdered the Armenian
officer. They have also commemorated the victims of the Sumgait
pogroms that had taken place in 1988.
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, 32 people 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 KGB in Azerbaijan. Executioners of Sumgait were
subsequently declared as national heroes of Azerbaijan.
Documentary "Ordinary Genocide: Sumgait 1988."
In 2004, Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan was taking part in
a three-month English course of NATO "Partnership for Peace" in
Budapest. Early in the morning of February 19 he was murdered. The
murderer - Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov - delivered 16 blows
of ax to the face of the sleeping Armenian officer. As a result, the
Hungarian court found him sane and sentenced him to life imprisonment
without a right of pardon for 30 years. The news about the extradition
of Ramil Safarov to his homeland and pardon by the Azerbaijani
president Ilham Aliyev broke out on August 31.
The pardoned murderer Ramil Safarov was greeted as a hero in
Azerbaijan; he was given an apartment and was paid an officer salary
for 8 years spent in detention. Moreover, Safarov was breveted
Major by the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, who also wished him
"every success."
Because of Safarov's extradition to Azerbaijan the president of Armenia
Serzh Sargsyan announced the suspension of diplomatic relations
with Hungary. Safarov's extradition, pardon, and glorification in
Azerbaijan was condemned by the US president Barack Obama, US State
Department, Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Russia and France,
Secretary General of Council of Europe, Secretary General of CSTO,
NATO, and international human rights organizations. In addition to
that, European Parliament adopted a condemning resolution on September
13, 2012.
On February 19, is the 10th anniversary of commemoration of Armenian
officer's death. To the 10th anniversary of Gurgen Margaryan's murder
in the frameworks of the "Ordinary Genocide" project a video-footage
has been prepared called "Azerbaijan: Racism without borders." The
video footage is in English , Russian and Hungarian. It concisely
presents the history of the murder that had stunned the world, as well
as the programs following the incident and Safarov's glorification in
Azerbaijan.It is significant that the authors chose Symphony number 7
("Leningrad") by Dmitri Shostakovich known as "the invasion of the
Nazis" as a soundtrack for the footage.
The "Ordinary Genocide" project is being implemented by the Information
and Public Relations Center under the RA President's administration.
Source: Panorama.am
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress