Chidem Inch: Armenian Grief

What we are experiencing now with the surrender of Artsakh and the ongoing Azerbaijani persecution of Armenians is nothing new.  We felt it with the loss of the horrible 2020 Artsakh War and the fall of Shushi. We felt it in February 1988 with the Sumgait pogrom that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Armenians and the exodus of most of the Armenians of Baku to Europe and the U.S. Back in 1988, it was shocking to witness this kind aggression against Armenians, which had not been seen since the Genocide and earlier. It was nothing we ever expected to occur in our lifetime. How naïve we were.

I lived in Detroit in 1988. Following the pogrom, we gathered at St. Sarkis Church for prayers and speeches in the church hall. Everyone in the community came out. The church was completely full, as was the hall. Our Der Hayr (priest), Goriun Shirikian, gave the most impassioned sermon I ever heard from him. He started on the verge of tears but soon turned to fiery indignation.