STEPANAKERT. – The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), or Artsakh, Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in connection with the 25th anniversary of the Armenian pogroms in Sumgait, Azerbaijan.

“Mass murders and pogroms of Armenians took place from 27 to 29 February, 1988 in Sumgait, a city located less than 30 kilometers from the Azeri capital, Baku. For three days, and upon the silent agreement of the authorities and complete inaction of the law enforcement agencies, people were murdered, raped and maimed for the mere reason of being Armenian. Dozens of killed, hundreds of maimed, and thousands of Armenians who were expelled from Sumgait became the first victims of Azerbaijan’s policy of terror aimed at Karabakh Armenians who, in the preceding week, had officially declared their intention to exercise their right to self-determination. In spite of the peaceful and legitimate nature of these manifestations in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan rejected dialogue from the very beginning, resorted to the language of threats and intimidation, and pursued a policy of violent oppression of the free will of the people of Artsakh.

Unfortunately, the Sumgait massacre has not received an adequate political and legal assessment of the international community to date. Moreover, silencing the truth about the Sumgait tragedy, concealing its true causes, and the impunity granted to its masterminds have paved the way for ethnic cleansing throughout Azerbaijan. It reached its culmination during the bloody massacres and mass deportations of the Armenians of Baku, in January 1990, which later led to a full-scale military aggression against the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

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

In today’s Azerbaijan, and 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 with 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 a fellow Armenian classmate, is glorified as a national hero and a role model for youth.

Twenty-five years later, we pay tribute to the innocent victims of the Sumgait tragedy, and call upon the international community to express its firm and unambiguous position in relation to that crime committed against humanity. A clear and unequivocal assessment of these mass murders and pogroms, and condemnation of the forces behind them, will both prevent the recurrence of such crimes and contribute to the ethical improvement of the Azeri society,” the NKR MFA’s statement reads.