Artsakh Remembers Sumgait Pogroms, 1,200 ARF Members Join Commemoration

While we commemorate the tragedy of Sumgait, we should not forget the role played by the Russian (at the time called “Soviet”) government in the massacre. As always, Armenians had placed their full faith in the Russians and Gorbachev when we started the Karabakh movement. In return, when the massacre started, the Russian troops mysteriously waited for three days (while the killings continued) before moving in. As many realized later, this was deliberately done to “teach Armenians a lesson.” Indeed, it was a pattern that Russia had often employed throughout the history: throw Armenians into the lion’s mouth whenever it suited their interests.

Fortunately, Armenians exhibited remarkable (and some would say rare) political astuteness by democratically overthrowing the puppet Communist regime in Armenia, despite all the usual calls that “it would be the end of Armenia” (including a notorious speech by Catholicos Vazgen I). Instead, the new democratic spirit unified Armenians to an unprecedented degree and led them to a remarkable victory against the enemy. And then, a stronger Armenia was able to ally itself with Russia on a more equal footing. A lesson from our history that we should not forget.

Which brings me to another tragedy that we should also commemorate these days: the martyrdom of innocent Armenians on March 1, 2008, who died for a chance to make Armenia a democracy, i.e. a country where Armenians would want to live in.