AZERBAIJAN DISTORTS HISTORY OF ARMENIAN POGROMS IN BAKU

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.01.2007 18:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian side should furnish the true information
on the Armenian pogroms in Baku, rector of the Yerevan State Linguistic
University Suren Zolyan told a news conference in Yerevan. In his
words, the history has been distorted during 17 years passed since
the tragedy.

"The Armenian side will never pursue an anti-Azeri agitation,
however these tragic pages of the Armenian history should be always
remembered. If crimes are not spoken about for a long time they are
given another assessments and comments. Azerbaijan holds mourning
events dedicated to the "hard times when the soviet troops entered
Baku." However they entered not to defend Armenians but to prevent
collapse of the communist regime. Those victims Azerbaijan is speaking
about were the people who wished to seize the power," the political
scientist underscored.

According to Zolyan, presently the Azeri side tries to lay the blame
on Armenians. "These people were killed by Armenians, they say. So,
many generations come to the Shahid Alley thinking that people killed
by Armenians are buried here. It’s essential to talk the truth on the
issue, since many people were brought up in anti-Armenian mood and do
not know what really happened. Annually a new generation of Azeris are
brought to the Alley and shown the graves. But they are not shown the
demolished gravestones at the Armenian cemeteries, where new streets
have been already built," he said, reports newsarmenia.ru

On January 13, 1990 a crowd of some 50 thousand people divided into
groups and started "cleansing" the city from Armenians. The pogroms
lasted till January 20, when the soviet troops were deployed in
Baku. 300 thousand Armenians used to live in the Azerbaijani capital
city till 1990.