EDUARD SHARMAZANOV: ARMENIANS IN BAKU WERE SLAUGHTERED BECAUSE OF THEIR NATIONALITY

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.01.2010 18:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Continuing meetings between Armenian and Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministers suggest there’s progress in the Karabakh conflict
settlement. Newly scheduled meetings also signal both Armenia and
Azerbaijan’s readiness to support the peace process, following the
adoption of December 2 declaration in Athens, RPA parliamentary group
secretary Eduard Sharmazanov said.

Yet, as he told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, Karabakh conflict won’t be
resolved soon.

As to Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan, Sharmazanov noted that
Armenian Foreign Minister has long ago put special emphasis on the
issue during negotiations with Azerbaijan. "Baku was thought to be
an international city, yet thousands of Armenians were slaughtered
because of their nationality," he stressed.

Commenting on the reporter’s question on the best way to increase
new generation’s awareness of the issue, Sharmazanov said that media,
social organizations and politicians have to take action to that end.

In January 1990, Azerbaijani authorities instigated the Armenian
pogroms in Baku. Some 400 Armenians were killed and 200 thousand
were exiled in the period of January 13-19. The exact number of those
killed was never determined, as no investigation was carried out into
the crimes.

On January 13, a crowd numbering 50 thousand people divided into
groups and started "cleaning" the city of Armenians. On January 17,
the European Parliament called on EU Council of Foreign Ministers
and European Council to protect Armenians and render assistance to
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. On January 18, a group of U.S. Senators
sent a letter to Mikhail Gorbachev to express concerns over the
violence against the Armenian population in Azerbaijan and called
for unification of Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia.