NEW YORK, N.Y.—On Feb. 26, the Armenian National Committee (ANC) of New York together with more than 60 activists from around the state gathered in front of the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the United Nations in order to demand truth and justice for the crimes perpetrated against the Armenians in the cities of Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad, Maragha, and other places from 1988-92, which resulted in hundreds of Armenians being killed and more than 400,000 forcefully deported from their homes. The participants of the demonstration also called for the end of the two-decades-long aggression of Azerbaijan against Artsakh and Armenia. Chants were accompanied with patriotic songs and concluded with a prayer delivered by Very Rev. Fr. Zareh Sarkissian from the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church accompanied by the deacons from St. Illuminator’s cathedral in Manhattan.
ANC of NY activist and community leader Mher Janian noted, “We are here to demand justice from Azerbaijan and express our support for the independent Nagorno-Karabagh Republic [NKR/Artsakh] free of Azerbaijani aggression. Azerbaijan should face its history and recognize the independent Artsakh Republic as an irreversible reality.”
A survivor of the 1990 Baku pogroms, Michael Abagyan also participated in the demonstration. “The Armenian massacres in Azerbaijan during and on the eve of the Soviet Union’s collapse were state-sponsored and centrally planned by the Azerbaijani authorities,” he said. “Hundreds of Armenians perished and more than 400,000 civilians, including myself, were deported without any compensation for the losses. I am thankful to the United States for providing safe refuge to me and a significant number of Armenians escaping the Azerbaijani pogroms, but the United States has still much work to do to bring justice for these crimes and call upon Azerbaijan’s authoritarian President [Ilham] Aliyev to stop the aggression against NKR and Armenia that has been going on for far too long. We will not allow the free people of NKR to share the same fate as we did. I stand strong with Artsakh.”
ANC of NY Chairman Nazareth Markarian noted that “Sumgait marked the beginning of the massacres and atrocities committed against the Armenians by Azerbaijani authorities from 1988-91. We are gathered here today to honor the victims of the pogroms in the cities of Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku and to raise awareness of the anti-Armenian sentiment that remains prevalent in Azerbaijan. Until Azerbaijan comes to terms with its bloody past, and acknowledges the independence of Nagorno-Karabagh, there can be no enduring peace in the region.”
ANC of NY plans on holding similar demonstrations every year to commemorate the anniversary of the Sumgait and Baku pogroms in order to educate the American and international communities, while calling upon Azerbaijani authorities to recognize Artsakh and cease all aggression.
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I said so many time, Stalin give all Armenian territory to Azerbercani, We must ask this territory from Russia and Mr. Putin must stop Azerbercani accusations. We get our territory with Armenian blood and honor
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Once again ANCA please be represented at international human rights meetings (right now 31st session of HRC in Geneva with violent interventions of Azerbaijan…) to present a statement on the soungait, Baku, Kirovabad pogroms for action based on international leegal instruments and bodies. You can contact me. adedeyan@yahoo.com. Don’t wait and just inform genral public, media and the Armenian diaspora. ad.