29 February 2020, 11:21
Yerevan commemorates victims of riots in Sumgait
Mourning events in memory of the victims of riots in Sumgait were held at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in Yerevan. Eyewitnesses of the Sumgait events told about the killings of Armenians and about how they themselves managed to escape.
"The pogroms of the Armenian population were accompanied by torture, rape and robbery," said Armen Sargsyan, President of Armenia.
"We need a legal assessment of the events of those years. We also need informational work. The international community should know what really happened there," Larisa Alaverdyan, the first Armenian Ombudsperson, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
Sumgait pogroms were ethnically-based unrests that occurred in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait on February 26-29, 1988. According to General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of the USSR, 26 Armenians and six Azerbaijanis were killed in the riots, and over a hundred people were injured. According to other sources, hundreds of people fell victim to pogroms.
"These were hate crimes ... Facts, including evidence of pogrom victims could be used, if Armenia decides to sue Azerbaijan. And sooner or later it will be done," said Ara Kazaryan, a lawyer.
In Sumgait, the father of Kaman Avakyan, a 57-year-old resident of Stepanakert, was killed.
"As his neighbours told later, he was beaten up and thrown into a fire," he said.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 29, 2020 at 07:10 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Tigran Petrosyan Source: CK correspondent
