The Armenian authorities are obliged to grant special social and legal status to the survivors of the Armenian pogroms in Sumgait and other cities of Azerbaijan, Larisa Alaverdyan, a member of the Heritage Party, stated during the Feb. 28 procession in commemoration of the Armenian pogroms in Sumgait.

The Government must grant special status to the Armenian refugees. “A group must be set up to raise the problems of Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan at various international agencies. The victims of the Armenian pogroms in Sumgait must be viewed as victims of genocide. I think these people must be called descendants of genocide committed by Azerbaijan,” Alaverdyan said.

Alaverdyan said that Azerbaijan must pay financial, moral and territorial damage to the Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan – the Armenians that “really built up that state.”

“We must know what the international community’s opinion on where the refugees must live and what compensations they are to receive,” Alaverdyan said.

Today, Feb. 28, Armenians throughout the world mark the 23rd anniversary of Armenian pogroms in Sumgait.

According to official information, 26 Armenians were murdered and 100 seriously injured. Experts, however, say that the pogroms (Feb. 26 to 28) claimed 200 lives.