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PARTICIPANT OF SELF-DEFENSE OPERATIONS IN KIROVABAD: IN CRITICAL SITUATIONS, WE ALWAYS WIN IF WE ARE UNITED
Panorama
Nov 28 2011
Armenia
An exclusive interview by Panorama.am with representative of the
Armenian Refugee Association AHAZANG Grigory Oganezov about Armenian
self-defense operations during the massacres in Kirovabad in November
1988.
According to incomplete data, 18 people were killed in Kirovabad from
November 21 to 27, 1988, 60 are listed as missing, 74 received grave
injuries. Around 45 000 people were forcibly deported from Gandzak.
- We often talk about the Baku and Sumgait massacres but we know
little about the heroic self-defense of Armenians in Gandzak which
was called Kirovabad during the later Soviet Union period.
- During the Armenian massacres of 1988, I participated in self-defense
operations in Kirovabad.
The Sumgait plot was used in Kirovabad, too. The town's Azerbaijani
and Armenian blocks were separated by a river, and the crowd,
crossing the river, penetrated into the Armenian block, destroying
everything in their path. The next day the local authorities were
replacing the broken glasses and repairing the damages trying to
hide the consequences. The same thing had happened in 1959: when
Leninakan football team beat the local team in Kirovabad playing
field, the Azerbaijanis sacked the Armenian block, and the next day
the authorities eliminated the consequences. That is why we expected
that the events would turn this way. Then Soviet troops appeared in the
town, young servicemen who had no idea what was going on in the town.
- That is anti-Armenian speeches had begun long before the November
massacres?
- In February already unconcealed anti-Armenian speeches were voiced
on television, at institutions, we had to accompany our children to
school and back home. Armenians were fired from their jobs. This tense
situation lasted until 1988 November. From mid-November an alleged
environmental protest was being prepared in Kirovabad's Lenin Square,
but the environmental slogans were shortly transformed into calls
"Death to Armenians." We managed to avoid high casualties in Kirovabad
due to correct arrangement and coordination of operations. We were
keeping a close eye on the events in other Azerbaijani regions where
Armenian massacres were taking place.
- So in November already you were ready to hit back at the Azerbaijani
pogrom makers. How was this process organized?
- We gathered in the church, established an initiating committee,
got in touch with commandant Pyotr Polyakh who visited us immediately.
Armenians were phoning the church from the town's Azerbaijani block,
asking for help, with the Azerbaijani pogrom makers having found out
the addresses of local Armenians. The town had declared a curfew. We
asked Polyakh to allow withdrawal of Armenians from Azerbaijani
blocks at nights. On the first night we managed to withdraw nearly 70
families. We took them to the church. The refugees needed shelter, we
had to provide medical aid to injured people, to feed the hungry. With
joint efforts we managed to provide them with clothes, medicines,
and food.
- Is there a documentation of the Armenian massacres in Kirovabad?
- We have collected all facts on the Armenian massacres in Kirovabad
and delivered them to the Soviet leadership. These facts include
statements by 1 300 families, around 5 000 people, while 50 000
Armenians lived in Kirovabad. We compiled lists of Azerbaijani pogrom
makers who raped the Armenian women and killed the men. All these
facts were registered at the military hospital, during the physical
exam, and we have a certificate for each case. Around 70 injured
people stayed in the church, another 300 had parts of their body
amputated with our help. Town hospitals refused to admit them, what
is more, Armenians receiving treatment at hospitals were forced out,
for instance, the wife of the evening school headmaster was forced
out of the hospital after she had her leg amputated.
- Did the Azerbaijanis burst into the Armenian block or they committed
killings in their territory only?
- On the first day of November massacres the Azerbaijanis attacked
the church, then they penetrated into the Armenian block, however,
facing organized resistance, they fled to the Azerbaijani side. We
immediately introduced explanations to the commandants on where
and how to block the points leading to Armenian streets in order
to prevent the Azerbaijani attacks. After we were deprived of phone
communication, electricity and water, we asked for a walkie-talkie
to keep in touch with the commandants. The initiating committee met
every day to coordinate the operations. Every Armenian block and
street organized self-defense.
- Were the Armenians evacuated from the town?
- No one had thought we would have to leave Kirovabad. However, after
the earthquake in Armenia we realized that we could not get help
from anywhere, and we fled on our own, with our own resources. The
initiating committee stayed in Kirovabad from 1988 December to 1989
August and organized evacuations of the Armenians. They were leaving
either for Armenia or Russia. There was a military unit in Kirovabad
where planes were repaired, and together with Armenians, all Russians
were also forcedly deported from there and joined us in the church.
There were also Georgians there. These were not only Armenian
massacres, but massacres of all non-Azerbaijanis. Azerbaijanis arriving
from Armenia exchanged their apartments with the property of the
Armenians in Kirovabad, they deceived Armenians, transferring their
apartments in Armenia to several Armenian families simultaneously,
after which many families were left homeless. On returning to Armenia,
they saw other legal owners living in the apartment transferred to
them also. The Armenians were transferred from the town by public
transport vehicles arriving from Georgia, which were often robbed
by the Azerbaijanis on the way. There were cases when passengers
of Baku-Ijevan train were forced to get off the train at Kirovabad
station and the train would not move on. The Azerbaijanis surrounded
the train, demanding to transfer the Armenians to them.
- Who coordinated the Armenian massacres in Kirovabad?
- The local government. I have kept a recording of speech by second
secretary of Kirovabad Jumshud Mamedov during a rally where he
said that only 500-600 families were killed. Despite the facts were
deliberately distorted and cut threefold, it sounded horrible. The
local prosecutor's office had registered the massacres in the period
from November 21 to 27 because Kirovabad leadership made public just
these data during anti-Armenian actions. We have kept a recording
where an Azerbaijani confesses that they were forced to attend these
rallies under the threat of being fired from job. The Armenophobic
propaganda was on the highest level. All these facts were transferred
to the Soviet Prosecutor's Office and are kept at archives.
- Was this in fact the first organized resistance to Azerbaijani
brutal crowd? Did it influence further developments?
- Kirovabad's self-defense was an incentive for Karabakh. Cars arrived
even from Stepanakert, delivering food to us. We felt that support. In
critical situations, we, Armenians, always win if we are united. When
the initiating committee was leaving Kirovabad finally, we locked the
church and brought the keys to Etchmiadzin. We did not manage to take
away the church property. We are preparing a letter to UNESCO to save
the church and the Armenian cemetery from vandalism. Besides, I am
making a book with all facts on the Armenian massacres in Kirovabad,
official documents, recordings, and evidence.
- Every year you gather to commemorate the victims of Armenian
massacres.
- Yes, we have installed a khachkar (cross-stone) in Tsitsernakaberd in
memory of the Armenians who were killed in Kirovabad and in neighboring
villages. We visit the khachkar on the last Sunday of November every
year and lay flowers at the memorial. We are meeting at Surb Hakob
Church in Kanaker-Zeytun community of Yerevan on November 27. Our
priest, Ter Sahak, who also participated in self-defense operations
in Kirovabad, will offer liturgy, then we will visit Tsitsernakaberd
to lay flowers at the khachkar.
Panorama
Nov 28 2011
Armenia
An exclusive interview by Panorama.am with representative of the
Armenian Refugee Association AHAZANG Grigory Oganezov about Armenian
self-defense operations during the massacres in Kirovabad in November
1988.
According to incomplete data, 18 people were killed in Kirovabad from
November 21 to 27, 1988, 60 are listed as missing, 74 received grave
injuries. Around 45 000 people were forcibly deported from Gandzak.
- We often talk about the Baku and Sumgait massacres but we know
little about the heroic self-defense of Armenians in Gandzak which
was called Kirovabad during the later Soviet Union period.
- During the Armenian massacres of 1988, I participated in self-defense
operations in Kirovabad.
The Sumgait plot was used in Kirovabad, too. The town's Azerbaijani
and Armenian blocks were separated by a river, and the crowd,
crossing the river, penetrated into the Armenian block, destroying
everything in their path. The next day the local authorities were
replacing the broken glasses and repairing the damages trying to
hide the consequences. The same thing had happened in 1959: when
Leninakan football team beat the local team in Kirovabad playing
field, the Azerbaijanis sacked the Armenian block, and the next day
the authorities eliminated the consequences. That is why we expected
that the events would turn this way. Then Soviet troops appeared in the
town, young servicemen who had no idea what was going on in the town.
- That is anti-Armenian speeches had begun long before the November
massacres?
- In February already unconcealed anti-Armenian speeches were voiced
on television, at institutions, we had to accompany our children to
school and back home. Armenians were fired from their jobs. This tense
situation lasted until 1988 November. From mid-November an alleged
environmental protest was being prepared in Kirovabad's Lenin Square,
but the environmental slogans were shortly transformed into calls
"Death to Armenians." We managed to avoid high casualties in Kirovabad
due to correct arrangement and coordination of operations. We were
keeping a close eye on the events in other Azerbaijani regions where
Armenian massacres were taking place.
- So in November already you were ready to hit back at the Azerbaijani
pogrom makers. How was this process organized?
- We gathered in the church, established an initiating committee,
got in touch with commandant Pyotr Polyakh who visited us immediately.
Armenians were phoning the church from the town's Azerbaijani block,
asking for help, with the Azerbaijani pogrom makers having found out
the addresses of local Armenians. The town had declared a curfew. We
asked Polyakh to allow withdrawal of Armenians from Azerbaijani
blocks at nights. On the first night we managed to withdraw nearly 70
families. We took them to the church. The refugees needed shelter, we
had to provide medical aid to injured people, to feed the hungry. With
joint efforts we managed to provide them with clothes, medicines,
and food.
- Is there a documentation of the Armenian massacres in Kirovabad?
- We have collected all facts on the Armenian massacres in Kirovabad
and delivered them to the Soviet leadership. These facts include
statements by 1 300 families, around 5 000 people, while 50 000
Armenians lived in Kirovabad. We compiled lists of Azerbaijani pogrom
makers who raped the Armenian women and killed the men. All these
facts were registered at the military hospital, during the physical
exam, and we have a certificate for each case. Around 70 injured
people stayed in the church, another 300 had parts of their body
amputated with our help. Town hospitals refused to admit them, what
is more, Armenians receiving treatment at hospitals were forced out,
for instance, the wife of the evening school headmaster was forced
out of the hospital after she had her leg amputated.
- Did the Azerbaijanis burst into the Armenian block or they committed
killings in their territory only?
- On the first day of November massacres the Azerbaijanis attacked
the church, then they penetrated into the Armenian block, however,
facing organized resistance, they fled to the Azerbaijani side. We
immediately introduced explanations to the commandants on where
and how to block the points leading to Armenian streets in order
to prevent the Azerbaijani attacks. After we were deprived of phone
communication, electricity and water, we asked for a walkie-talkie
to keep in touch with the commandants. The initiating committee met
every day to coordinate the operations. Every Armenian block and
street organized self-defense.
- Were the Armenians evacuated from the town?
- No one had thought we would have to leave Kirovabad. However, after
the earthquake in Armenia we realized that we could not get help
from anywhere, and we fled on our own, with our own resources. The
initiating committee stayed in Kirovabad from 1988 December to 1989
August and organized evacuations of the Armenians. They were leaving
either for Armenia or Russia. There was a military unit in Kirovabad
where planes were repaired, and together with Armenians, all Russians
were also forcedly deported from there and joined us in the church.
There were also Georgians there. These were not only Armenian
massacres, but massacres of all non-Azerbaijanis. Azerbaijanis arriving
from Armenia exchanged their apartments with the property of the
Armenians in Kirovabad, they deceived Armenians, transferring their
apartments in Armenia to several Armenian families simultaneously,
after which many families were left homeless. On returning to Armenia,
they saw other legal owners living in the apartment transferred to
them also. The Armenians were transferred from the town by public
transport vehicles arriving from Georgia, which were often robbed
by the Azerbaijanis on the way. There were cases when passengers
of Baku-Ijevan train were forced to get off the train at Kirovabad
station and the train would not move on. The Azerbaijanis surrounded
the train, demanding to transfer the Armenians to them.
- Who coordinated the Armenian massacres in Kirovabad?
- The local government. I have kept a recording of speech by second
secretary of Kirovabad Jumshud Mamedov during a rally where he
said that only 500-600 families were killed. Despite the facts were
deliberately distorted and cut threefold, it sounded horrible. The
local prosecutor's office had registered the massacres in the period
from November 21 to 27 because Kirovabad leadership made public just
these data during anti-Armenian actions. We have kept a recording
where an Azerbaijani confesses that they were forced to attend these
rallies under the threat of being fired from job. The Armenophobic
propaganda was on the highest level. All these facts were transferred
to the Soviet Prosecutor's Office and are kept at archives.
- Was this in fact the first organized resistance to Azerbaijani
brutal crowd? Did it influence further developments?
- Kirovabad's self-defense was an incentive for Karabakh. Cars arrived
even from Stepanakert, delivering food to us. We felt that support. In
critical situations, we, Armenians, always win if we are united. When
the initiating committee was leaving Kirovabad finally, we locked the
church and brought the keys to Etchmiadzin. We did not manage to take
away the church property. We are preparing a letter to UNESCO to save
the church and the Armenian cemetery from vandalism. Besides, I am
making a book with all facts on the Armenian massacres in Kirovabad,
official documents, recordings, and evidence.
- Every year you gather to commemorate the victims of Armenian
massacres.
- Yes, we have installed a khachkar (cross-stone) in Tsitsernakaberd in
memory of the Armenians who were killed in Kirovabad and in neighboring
villages. We visit the khachkar on the last Sunday of November every
year and lay flowers at the memorial. We are meeting at Surb Hakob
Church in Kanaker-Zeytun community of Yerevan on November 27. Our
priest, Ter Sahak, who also participated in self-defense operations
in Kirovabad, will offer liturgy, then we will visit Tsitsernakaberd
to lay flowers at the khachkar.