“Two of the people from Sumgait whom we have met and spoken with were working in Azerbaijan in one of the metal pipe factories. They were preparing iron pipes with axes and specialized hammers, which they then saw used during the genocidal killings in February,” the first Human Rights Defender of Armenia and the founder of the Foundation Against the Violation of Law NGO, Larisa Alaverdyan, said during a discussion at the Orbeli analytical center in honor of the 32nd anniversary of the Sumgait massacre.
February 27th is the remembrance day of the victims of massacres organized in the Azerbaijani SSR and the protection of the rights of Armenian refugees.
Larisa Alaverdyan noted that Armenians were not being killed in secret during those massacres, but they were killed openly. “Seven- and eight-year-old children were also involved in the crimes. Now, they are around 40-50 years old and they remember everything very well. That was a crime on behalf of Azerbaijan and the documents prove that.”
According to the activist, the relatives of the Armenian victims need to be under special social protection by the government. Meanwhile, according to the new Armenian government, they are merely the victims of hooliganism. “The National Assembly needs to speak about those genocidal actions and accept a document or resolution.”
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You may read more about the Sumgait massacre here. http://karabakhrecords.info/
Luiza Sukiasyan
