“The goal of the Azeri political elite was to spill blood. Not everyone knows that the then-President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, was aware of all of this and actively participated in the organization of these operations,” the first Ombudsman of Armenia, activist Larisa Alaverdyan told reporters regarding the pogroms against Baku Armenians that took place 29 years ago, during which hundreds of people were killed or missing. Alaverdyan herself is from Baku. “When Heydar Aliyev was being informed that blood is being spilled, and it was possible that the blood of Azeris would be spilled too, he said that it’s ok, spilling their blood is beneficial to us,” Larisa Alaverdyan emphasized.
According to her, the Baku pogroms were a continuation of the genocidal operations that began in 1918. “I must remind you of famous lawyer Yuri Barseghov’s documents, which proved that Azerbaijan was created by Turkey for one specific purpose: to continue and to finish the genocide of Armenians in the South Caucasus.” Larisa Alaverdyan said that Armenia has policies of submission and failure through remaining silent about the results of the Baku and Sumgait pogroms, therefore putting the existence of Armenians in the region in danger.
“There were about a half million refugees and approximately 1,500 casualties as a result of the pogroms in Baku, Sumgait, and Gandzak. We are required to give legal and political evaluations of all of that. Azerbaijan carries the same genocidal policies today,” Larisa Alaverdyan concluded.
Luiza Sukiasyan
