The Ministry off Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Armenian issued statement Wednesday on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Armenian massacres in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

The statement noted that these days, the 35th anniversary of the massacres, ethnic cleansing, and mass deportations of Armenians in Baku is commemorated. Within a week, Azerbaijani organized groups committed heinous crimes against Armenians in an environment of complete impunity and with the connivance and support of the Azerbaijani authorities, as well as complete inaction of the Soviet authorities.

The overwhelming majority of Armenians had to leave their homes in the case when the Armenian community played a significant role in the construction and development of the industrial city of Baku since the middle of the 19th century, Armenian families and individuals founded, managed, and headed large industrial enterprises, cultural and educational institutions. As a result, the Armenians of Baku left behind property and wealth worth billions, subsequently being deprived of the opportunity to receive any compensation in return.

The massacre of the Armenian population in Baku in January 1990, which had the clear aim of forcibly evicting the remnants of the once 250,000-strong Armenian community, was preceded by larger-scale massacres in the cities of Sumgait and Kirovabad (present-day Ganja) in Azerbaijan.

As a result of the massacres of Armenians in Azerbaijan in the late 1980s and early 1990s, about 400,000 Armenians were deported from the country. Furthermore, the thousand-year traces of Armenians in Azerbaijani cities were deliberately erased, and their rich history and heritage were falsified.

Paying tribute to the memory of the victims and survivors of the Baku massacres, Armenia strongly believes that stable peace in the South Caucasus can only prevent the recurrence of such crimes against humanity in the future.