Armenian President Armen Sarkissian delivered a message on the 33rd anniversary of the Sumgait tragedy. 

The message reads, in part:

"Dear compatriots!

33 years ago these days bloody acts of violence were committed against the local Armenian population in the city of Sumgait, Azerbaijan.

The planned massacres, violence, deportations and deprivation of property by the Azerbaijani authorities were crimes against Armenians. This was Azerbaijan's response to the peaceful struggle of our compatriots in Artsakh for a free life in the historical cradle.

The impunity of the Sumgait massacre two years later led to other tragedies, this time in Baku, then in Gandzak and Maragha.

The anti-Armenian policy manifested itself in the last war, in particular, in the inhuman treatment of the population of Artsakh, Armenian captives, torture and murder. The fate of many of our compatriots is still unknown due to the unleashed war against Artsakh.

The Sumgait atrocity, the Azerbaijani policy of ethnic cleansing against Armenians, which is already being carried out in the conditions of modern civilization, is strongly condemned.

I bow to the memory of our compatriots who have become victims of Azerbaijani violence."