THERE IS NO ETHNIC HOSTILITY BETWEEN ARMENIANS AND AZERIS
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 25. ARMINFO. One should not confuse relations
between Armenians and Azeris with Azerbaijan’s official
position. There is no ethnic hostility bewteen the two nations, says
Rector of Yerevan State Linguistic University Suren Zolyan.
For example Armenians and Azeris quite peacefully coexist in Georgia
and there are many reports of Azeris’ saving Armenians during the 1988
pogroms in Sumqayit.
Zolyan says that the Sumqayit events were a well organized action
against the self-determination right of the Nagorno Karabakh people
and its decision to secede from Azerbaijan and to join Armenia.
The hidden motives the Azeri authorities had in Nakhichevan came to
surface in Sumqayit. The Nagorno Karabakh people’s self-determination
is not just a whim but something imperative. The Sumqayit Armenians
were the first victims of this struggle for independence. The fate of
the USSR was determined in 1988 when Soviet troops’ passivity in the
conflict marked the end of the Soviet era.
This is a historical lesson that should be well understood, says
Zolyan noting that now many in the world speak about security in the
region but there will not be one unless they recognize the Sumqayit
tragedy and punish all its perpetrators. This is an issue of global
importance as this was a crime against humanity. One should not forget
that those scanning “Freedom to the Heros of Sumqayit” are now in
power in Azerbaijan.
From: Baghdasarian