The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, has issued a message on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the anti-Armenian pogroms in Baku. Below we present the words of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia.
“Dear compatriots,
Today we commemorate the undying memory of the victims of the pogroms, ethnic cleansing and mass deportations of Armenians in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Thirty years ago, the international community witnessed and condemned the pogroms against the Armenian population in Baku.
As a result of the policy of persecution and ethnic cleansing that gained momentum after the crime of Sumgait, by 1990, of Baku’s 250,000-strong Armenian community, only 35,000-40,000 remained, mainly elderly and helpless people. Their subsequent fate was even more tragic. Hundreds killed, maimed and missing, tens of thousands of refugees — such was the outcome of the anti-Armenian pogroms that raged in Baku for about a week.
The Armenians of Baku posed no threat to Azerbaijan, its authorities or political forces. They merely wished to continue living in their birthplace and that of their ancestors. Nevertheless, they were perceived by Azerbaijan as a threat solely because of their ethnic origin.
Armenians had lived in Baku for centuries and gave that city its true multicultural character. In the 19th century, they made the greatest contribution to the founding and development of the city’s oil industry. The role of Armenians in the city’s development during the Soviet years is also invaluable.
Thirty years after the events, there is no respect or compassion in Azerbaijan for the victims of the anti-Armenian pogroms in Baku. The few voices that have had the courage to mention the tragedy that befell the Armenians of Baku, even in literary works, have been pilloried and officially declared traitors.
Even today, the pogromists who settled accounts with helpless people are ranked among Azerbaijan’s heroes, and their crimes are considered a glorious page in the struggle against Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
It must be noted with regret that the past three decades have not become a period of rethinking, repentance and reconciliation in Azerbaijan.
During this time, we have witnessed an attempt to exterminate the population of Artsakh, the release and glorification of Ramil Safarov, who was serving a sentence for murder, and the brutal torture and killing of elderly and helpless people in a border settlement of Artsakh in April 2016. Armenophobia has become the state policy and creed of Azerbaijan.
Dear compatriots,
today, we express our gratitude to all international structures and parliamentary bodies that have responded to and documented these events, condemning them and exposing them to the world.
Bowing our heads before the memory of our innocent victims, I declare with full responsibility: we will not allow new attempts to exterminate or forcibly deport Armenians. The Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Artsakh and the entire worldwide Armenian diaspora will jointly invest all their potential to ensure the right of the Armenian people to exist and develop peacefully in their historical homeland, including in Artsakh.”
