THE BLOODY TRACES OF 'SUMGAIT'
Leonid Martirossian
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=564:t he-bloody-traces-of-sumgait&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Monday, 27 February 2012 16:06
Editor-in-chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper
"Times New Roman","serif";} These days, the 24th anniversary of the
Sumgait pogroms will be commemorated. Three days â~@~S from February
27 to February 29 of the leap year of 1988, fierce and unpunished
massacre of innocent people was carried out in this Azerbaijani
city. An Armenian massacre took place there. The people were killed
just for being Armenians... The last days of this February, the leap
year of 2012, our people will also pay tribute to the memory of the
innocent victims of that terrible tragedy, which took the lives of
dozens and dozens of our compatriots. A week ago, on February 20,
we marked another event - the 24th anniversary of the resolution of
the session of the Nagorno Karabakh Oblast Soviet of People's Deputies
on soliciting before the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijani SSR and the
Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR on the transfer of Nagorno-Karabakh
from the structure of Azerbaijan to that of Armenia. It is important
to note that this decision was made by purely constitutional means,
basing on the free will of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. An outside
observer can consider strange the reference to these two seemingly
unrelated events, consequently, failing to catch the connection between
them. But, they are related to each other quite directly, and it may
seem strange only to those unfamiliar with the criminal essence of the
Azerbaijani authorities, both in the Soviet period and nowadays. Years
and even centuries will pass, but these two events will go together
and live in the history in a weekly distance from each other.
The Armenian pogroms of the late February of 1988 were the result
of the targeted state anti-Armenian policy of Azerbaijan, and the
monstrous ATROCITIES of "sumgait" were the response of the Azerbaijani
authorities to the PEACEFUL demand of the Karabakh people put forward
within the democratic processes in the then USSR. Azerbaijan had
a single goal - to make the Armenian population of Artsakh abandon
the idea of â~@~Kâ~@~Kreunification with Armenia, at the same time
preventing a political solution to the issue via this bloody blackmail
of the Soviet Center. However, it is worth mentioning that Azerbaijan's
concerns about the possible 'pro-Karabakh' actions of the Kremlin were
in vain, as the Soviet leadership in President Gorbachev, in fact,
was consolidated with the nationalist leadership of Azerbaijan.
Numerous eyewitness accounts, photos and videos, investigation and
trial materials conclusively confirm that the events in Sumgait were
an act of genocide that was planned and carried out by the authorities
of Azerbaijan with the criminal connivance of Gorbachev's regime. To
fulfill the Kremlin's state order, the single criminal case was split
up into individual episodes and qualified as acts of hooligan elements,
though even then some of the USSR Prosecutor's Office investigators
directly called the Sumgait events genocide.
Since then, nearly a quarter of a century has passed. Soviet Moscow
does not exist; however, the criminal nationalist Baku regime is
preserved â~@~S it committed bloody crimes against the Armenian people:
the pogroms in Baku, Gandzak, Shamkhor, Mingechaur accompanied by
the killing and deportation of civilians, the brutal war against the
independent NKR ... All this convincingly proves that Sumgait was part
of Azerbaijan's state policy on eliminating the Armenian ethnic group.
This policy is still underway.
We have not heard yet any repentance for Sumgait and other crimes
committed by Azerbaijan. Moreover, in this country, in strict
accordance with the same anti-Armenian state policy, glorification of
the executioners and criminals takes place. Sumgait, where murderers
were proclaimed heroes, echoed in Budapest exactly 16 years later,
in the February of 2004. It was here that Azeri officer Ramil Safarov,
taking training courses within the NATO program Partnership for Peace
(!!!), committed brutal murder of his classmate, Armenian officer
Gurgen Margaryan.
Acquaintance with the materials of the case, as well as with the
reaction to this crime in Azerbaijan itself clearly demonstrates the
genetic link between the â~@~Xsumgait and the â~@~Xbudapestâ~@~Y. Their
â~@~Xrelationshipâ~@~Y is simply amazing, although it is, frankly
speaking, quite natural. "The murder was planned and was notable
for its brutality", read the verdict of the Budapest Court. This
formulation fully characterizes the atrocities committed in
Sumgait. Next, like with the 'sumgait', the action of murderer Safarov
was considered in the Azerbaijani society as a sacrifice for the sake
of Azerbaijan; moreover, some officials, including representatives
of the presidential administration, as well as MPs and politicians
have repeatedly urged to award the murderer the title of 'Hero of
Azerbaijan'. And finally, "During the judicial investigation Safarov
did not show any signs of remorse for his deeds" - this is another
quotation from the noted verdict. In fact, nothing else could be
expected, because he had the example of his own country, which did
not repent of Sumgait. So, we can speak of a deep crisis that has
struck Azerbaijan, where a new generation of racists is growing -
the crisis of public conscience poisoned with the toxin of hatred
towards Armenians, which is in a step from the hatred towards humanity
in general.
Fortunately, there is a difference between the 'sumgait' and the
'budapest' - in the second case, the criminal was deservedly punished
and sentenced to life imprisonment. Will the â~@~Xsumgaitâ~@~Y get
its deserved punishment? And who will the judge be?
Leonid Martirossian
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=564:t he-bloody-traces-of-sumgait&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Monday, 27 February 2012 16:06
Editor-in-chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper
"Times New Roman","serif";} These days, the 24th anniversary of the
Sumgait pogroms will be commemorated. Three days â~@~S from February
27 to February 29 of the leap year of 1988, fierce and unpunished
massacre of innocent people was carried out in this Azerbaijani
city. An Armenian massacre took place there. The people were killed
just for being Armenians... The last days of this February, the leap
year of 2012, our people will also pay tribute to the memory of the
innocent victims of that terrible tragedy, which took the lives of
dozens and dozens of our compatriots. A week ago, on February 20,
we marked another event - the 24th anniversary of the resolution of
the session of the Nagorno Karabakh Oblast Soviet of People's Deputies
on soliciting before the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijani SSR and the
Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR on the transfer of Nagorno-Karabakh
from the structure of Azerbaijan to that of Armenia. It is important
to note that this decision was made by purely constitutional means,
basing on the free will of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. An outside
observer can consider strange the reference to these two seemingly
unrelated events, consequently, failing to catch the connection between
them. But, they are related to each other quite directly, and it may
seem strange only to those unfamiliar with the criminal essence of the
Azerbaijani authorities, both in the Soviet period and nowadays. Years
and even centuries will pass, but these two events will go together
and live in the history in a weekly distance from each other.
The Armenian pogroms of the late February of 1988 were the result
of the targeted state anti-Armenian policy of Azerbaijan, and the
monstrous ATROCITIES of "sumgait" were the response of the Azerbaijani
authorities to the PEACEFUL demand of the Karabakh people put forward
within the democratic processes in the then USSR. Azerbaijan had
a single goal - to make the Armenian population of Artsakh abandon
the idea of â~@~Kâ~@~Kreunification with Armenia, at the same time
preventing a political solution to the issue via this bloody blackmail
of the Soviet Center. However, it is worth mentioning that Azerbaijan's
concerns about the possible 'pro-Karabakh' actions of the Kremlin were
in vain, as the Soviet leadership in President Gorbachev, in fact,
was consolidated with the nationalist leadership of Azerbaijan.
Numerous eyewitness accounts, photos and videos, investigation and
trial materials conclusively confirm that the events in Sumgait were
an act of genocide that was planned and carried out by the authorities
of Azerbaijan with the criminal connivance of Gorbachev's regime. To
fulfill the Kremlin's state order, the single criminal case was split
up into individual episodes and qualified as acts of hooligan elements,
though even then some of the USSR Prosecutor's Office investigators
directly called the Sumgait events genocide.
Since then, nearly a quarter of a century has passed. Soviet Moscow
does not exist; however, the criminal nationalist Baku regime is
preserved â~@~S it committed bloody crimes against the Armenian people:
the pogroms in Baku, Gandzak, Shamkhor, Mingechaur accompanied by
the killing and deportation of civilians, the brutal war against the
independent NKR ... All this convincingly proves that Sumgait was part
of Azerbaijan's state policy on eliminating the Armenian ethnic group.
This policy is still underway.
We have not heard yet any repentance for Sumgait and other crimes
committed by Azerbaijan. Moreover, in this country, in strict
accordance with the same anti-Armenian state policy, glorification of
the executioners and criminals takes place. Sumgait, where murderers
were proclaimed heroes, echoed in Budapest exactly 16 years later,
in the February of 2004. It was here that Azeri officer Ramil Safarov,
taking training courses within the NATO program Partnership for Peace
(!!!), committed brutal murder of his classmate, Armenian officer
Gurgen Margaryan.
Acquaintance with the materials of the case, as well as with the
reaction to this crime in Azerbaijan itself clearly demonstrates the
genetic link between the â~@~Xsumgait and the â~@~Xbudapestâ~@~Y. Their
â~@~Xrelationshipâ~@~Y is simply amazing, although it is, frankly
speaking, quite natural. "The murder was planned and was notable
for its brutality", read the verdict of the Budapest Court. This
formulation fully characterizes the atrocities committed in
Sumgait. Next, like with the 'sumgait', the action of murderer Safarov
was considered in the Azerbaijani society as a sacrifice for the sake
of Azerbaijan; moreover, some officials, including representatives
of the presidential administration, as well as MPs and politicians
have repeatedly urged to award the murderer the title of 'Hero of
Azerbaijan'. And finally, "During the judicial investigation Safarov
did not show any signs of remorse for his deeds" - this is another
quotation from the noted verdict. In fact, nothing else could be
expected, because he had the example of his own country, which did
not repent of Sumgait. So, we can speak of a deep crisis that has
struck Azerbaijan, where a new generation of racists is growing -
the crisis of public conscience poisoned with the toxin of hatred
towards Armenians, which is in a step from the hatred towards humanity
in general.
Fortunately, there is a difference between the 'sumgait' and the
'budapest' - in the second case, the criminal was deservedly punished
and sentenced to life imprisonment. Will the â~@~Xsumgaitâ~@~Y get
its deserved punishment? And who will the judge be?