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    Categories: 2018

Azeri Crimes Remain Unpunished After Thirty Years of Bloodshed – ANCC Statement on the 30th Anniversary of the Sumgait Masacre

Armenian
National Committee of Canada

Comité
National Arménien du Canada

 

Tel./Tél. (613) 235-2622

E-mail/Courriel:national.office@anccanada.org

www.anccanada.org

 

-PRESS RELEASE-

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

                                                                           Contact: Sevag Belian (613) 235-2622

 

Azeri Crimes
Remain Unpunished After Thirty Years of Bloodshed

ANCC Statement on the 30th
Anniversary of the Sumgait Masacre

 

Ottawa — Thirty years ago, this week, Azerbaijani authorities organized
and systematically committed the mass pogroms and massacres against the peaceful
Armenian population of Sumgait. In what was seen as a response to the peaceful
manifestation of Artsakh Armenians for self-determination, dozens of Armenians
were brutally killed or detained, beaten and tortured.

The Sumgait massacre was the first ethnic cleansing campaign that Azeri
nationalists committed since the onset of the Karabakh movement which fueled
further bloody episodes of ethic cleansings perpetrated by Azeri authorities in
Kirovabad, Mingechaur, Baku and elsewhere around Azerbaijan.

“Instead of facing their history and repenting for their monstrous crimes,
Azerbaijani authorities spare no effort today to deny their past and shift the
international community’s attention in order to escape responsibility” said
Shahen Mirakian, president of the Armenian National Committee of Canada.

The massacre claimed the lives of over 36 innocent Armenian men, women
and children. Internationally renowned media sources including the New York
Times, Washington Post, and many others reported about these heinous crimes
committed by Azeri nationalists.

“The international community’s silence is what further encouraged Azeri
nationalists to perpetrate their crimes and instill hatred and discrimination
against Armenians in the region” said Shahen Mirakian.

As a result of lack of monitoring and international pressure, to this
day, Azerbaijan remains committed to its campaign of aggression against
Armenians by constantly violating the current ceasefire regime and by making
outrageous threats of attacking Armenia proper itself.

"It is the international community's
responsibility to put an end to Aliyev's bellicose war-mongering and aggression
that not only is threatening the political stability of the region, but also
causing serious consequences for global peace and security" concluded
Mirakian.

 

 

-30-

 

******

 

 

The ANCC is the largest and the most influential
Armenian-Canadian grassroots human rights organization. Working in coordination
with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and
affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances the
concerns of the Armenian-Canadian community on a broad range of issues and
works to eliminate abuses of human rights throughout Canada and the world.

Sevag Belian – Executive Director
Armenian National Committee of Canada
T: (613) 235-2622 | C: (905) 329-8526
E:
Emil Lazarian: “I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS