The leader of Gandzak self-defense, Grisha Oganezov is convinced if Sumgayit crimes were condemned, Turks would not continue massacring Armenians in Azerbaijan. He remembered that until the massacres Azerbaijanis were gathering information on all Armenians living in Gandzak, they attacked Armenians on November 21: “There were both Armenian and Turkish residents in the building, they were entering only the apartments of the Armenians via respective lists and massacring.”
Ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan noticed that in the Caucasus the issue of Armenian-Turkish relations has been difficult in the whole 20th century, consequently, it was understandable that the river was decided to be turned into a borderline, and on one bank Armenian district was planned to be created and on the other – a Turkish one.
“There were more than 5000 Armenians living in the apartment buildings of the Turkish district and their fate was under a threat. And when Sumgayit took place, the knowledge of Kirovabad residents of what was until that, became very decisive and urged to self-defense. It was very difficult to find the hidden Armenians in commandant’s regime, who had hidden under the tables, in the storerooms, they did not trust, they did not open the doors. In all that mess a complete information isolation was taking place, you would not see any information on Kirovabad at that period neither in Azeri nor in USSR press. Only on November 24, 2 people escaped from Kirovabad and were able to reach Armenia, where a session of the Supreme Council was taking place at Opera building and tell what was taking place in Kirovabad at that time.”
According to the ethnographer, Soviet Russia has played a huge role in those incidents, inasmuch as if the respective defense means were implemented by Russia, and in Sumgayit first and foremost, all that would not have taken place.
Arpine SIMONYAN
