AZERI VIOLENCE CONDEMNED AT WASHINGTON DC PROTEST

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Mar 1st, 2010
Washington

WASHINGTON-On Feb. 26, Greater Washington, D.C. area Armenian Americans
remembered victims of Azerbaijani violence during an annual protest
in support of self-determination for the people of Nagorno-Karabagh
and against Azerbaijani aggression.

The demonstration, organized by the Greater Washington Armenian Youth
Federation (AYF) "Ani" Chapter and the St. Mary’s Armenian Church
Youth Organization (ACYO), coincided with the 22nd anniversary of
the Azerbaijani pogroms against the Armenian population of Sumgait,
which set the stage for similar attacks in Baku in 1990 and a cycle of
violence that continues to this day. Similar protests will be taking
place during the next few days in countries around the world.

"It was a very important event to remember and honor the victims
that died, whose only crime was being Armenian," said ACYO chairwoman
Megan Karanfil. "We cannot allow the Azerbaijani government to forget
these crimes against innocent people. We hope our efforts will bring
to light past events so that no other race or religion will have to
endure such atrocities in the future."

Azerbaijani threats against neighboring Armenia and Karabagh have
stepped up in recent weeks, with the Azeri Foreign Minister Safar
Abiyev warning of a "great war." Slamming the ongoing Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) peacetalks as ineffective,
Abiyev told French Ambassador to Baku Gabriel Keller, "Now it’s the
military’s turn and the threat is growing every day."

"Abiyev’s call for renewed violence, this week, is the shining example
why we must all stand in support of Nagorno-Karabagh’s independence,"
said AYF Ani Chapter chairman Hagop Simonian. "Since 1991, the
Nagorno Karabagh Republic has worked tireless to build a democratic
and peaceful society, in the shadow of Azerbaijan’s threats. We will
continue to work hand-in-hand with the people Artsakh to preserve
and build on that legacy."

At the end of the protest, Soorp Khatch Armenian Church pastor, Father
Sarkis Aktavoukian, and St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church pastor,
Father Hovsep Karapetyan, led participants in prayer in memory of
the Armenian victims of Azerbaijani atrocities.