MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
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PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
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Minist er Oskanian Comments on 20th Anniversary of Pogroms in Azerbaijan
Minister Vartan Oskanian presented the opening remarks at a conference
entitled ‘Tolerance and Xenophobia in the South Caucasus region’. The
one-day conference took place on February 25, 2008, and was dedicated to the
20th anniversary of the Armenian pogroms that took place in February 1988 in
the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait.
In his speech, the Minister suggested that the topic ought to be considered
on three levels: national, regional and global.
In the regional context, the Minister explained, "The violence against
Armenians in Sumgait changed the nature of the Karabakh conflict. The
conflict became militarized, and the consequences were lost territories and
homeless refugees. These are expressions and manifestations of the conflict,
and not its causes.
"Those pogroms of Armenians in the city of Sumgait in Azerbaijan, far away
>From Nagorno Karabakh, in February 1988 have the dubious honor of being the
first — the first time that ethnic cleansing was utilized in what was still
Soviet space – even before this method was utilized in the Balkans.??
"And just as in the Balkans, it is clear that when a government fails in its
responsibility to protect, and instead condones and sponsors the killing of
its citizens, that government loses the right to administer that population.
There can be no return to the status quo, because the security and
well-being of that population is at stake, so in Nagorno Karabakh, there can
be no return to the status quo."
The Minister explained that Armenians have been the victims of extreme
intolerance in many places at many times. Sporadic killings of innocent
Armenians on the streets of Moscow today are signs of xenophobia. At its
most extreme, the Genocide by the Ottomans nearly 100 years ago was also the
expression of intolerance. That is why, the Armenian people must be the
advocates, the torchbearers of tolerance worldwide, he said.
Finally, the Minister extolled the Armenian people to also practice
tolerance, especially in today’s tense domestic atmosphere, to begin to work
to heal the wounds that this polarized election campaign inflicted, and to
work together politically.
The conference was organized by Hayk Demoyan, who heads the Genocide Museum,
and was cosponsored by the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
Armenian Academy of Sciences. Nearly a dozen scholars from Armenia and the
region spoke on various topics.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
