The US Embassy in Armenia on Monday released a message on the 35th anniversary of the Armenian pogroms in Sumgait, Azerbaijan.

“Today, we join with Armenians mourning and acknowledging all who lost their lives in Sumgait in 1988,” the message reads.

On February 27-29, 1988, at the instigation of the Azerbaijani authorities and as a result of criminal inaction, massive Armenian pogroms took place in the city of Sumgait, which killed hundreds of Armenians—including children, women, and the elderly—, and thousands were forcibly displaced.