Genocide in Sumgait: crime without punishment: reaction of “Komsomolskaya Pravda”

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 27, ARMENPRESS.The Russian “Komsomolskaya Pravda” reacted on the genocide against Armenians in Sumgait city 26 years ago. Armenpress reports that the periodical used Candidate of Historical Sciences Ruben Zargaryan’s memories in the article. “Azerbaijani Sumgait city carried out an act of genocide against the Armenian population 26 years ago on February 27, 1988. By the intended and planned support of the Azerbaijani authorities the Armenian mass massacres , murders , crimes against humanity were carried out which shocked the international society by their atrocity and cruelty,” “Komsomolskaya Pravda” wrote.

The news agency stated that massacre of Sumgait being of hundreds of kilometers distance from Nagorno-Karabakh was a reaction to the legal self-expression of Nagorno-Karabakh people to join Armenia since it had been an integral part of Armenia for thousands of years. The Russian source said that the goal of killing the Armenians in the multi-national Sumgait was to block the solution of the issue in USSR center and to scare Nagorno-Karabakh people by the prospect of bloody new retributions by forcing them to abandon the natural rights of freedom and decent life.

The tragic events in Sumgait laid the fertile ground and contributed to the further development of the zealous hatred towards Armenians and anything Armenian continuously and successively implanted in Azerbaijan and its society.

In today’s Azerbaijan, despite the international community’s calls to prepare its population for peace instead of war, xenophobia, intolerance and belligerence are being spread. Anyone in Azerbaijan, who stands for building any bridges to Armenians is severely intimidated and ostracized by the Government. At the same time, the Azeri officer, who was convicted in Hungary to a life sentence for the brutal Sumgait-type murder of the fellow Armenian classmate, is being glorified as a national hero and role model for youth.

26 years later we pay tribute to the innocent victims of the Sumgait tragedy, and call on the international community to express its firm and unambiguous position in relation to that crime against humanity. A clear and unequivocal assessment of those mass murders and pogroms and condemnation of the forces behind them will both prevent the recurrence of such crimes and contribute to the moral improvement of the Azeri society."