ArmInfo. Co-chairman of the Commission on Armenian Issues of the US Congress, Frank Pallone, made a statement in conjunction with the 31st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Sumgait, , reports the Armenian National Committee of America.
"Exactly 31 years ago, hundreds of peaceful Armenians were killed and persecuted by Azerbaijanis in Sumgait. Armenians were raped, tortured and burned. However, for more than 30 years, Azerbaijan denies its atrocities, moreover, glorified the pogrom organizers," Baku its history.
"Therefore, I continue to support the Armenian people and condemn these pogroms. Unfortunately, the attitude of the Azerbaijani government to the Armenian people has not changed for 31 years. Baku continues to make militaristic statements and threats against Armenians," the congressman concluded.
To note, from February 27 to February 29, 1988 in the Azerbaijani city Sumgait occurred the first brutal pogroms of the Armenian population, accompanied by mass violence, robbery, murder, arson and destruction of property. The Sumgait pogroms were a landmark event and a turning point in the escalation of inter-ethnic conflict in the South Caucasus, which caused the first flows of Armenian refugees from Sumgayit to Stepanakert and Armenia. According to official data of the Prosecutor General's Office of the USSR, 26 Armenian citizens and 6 citizens of Azerbaijani nationality died during the riots, more than a hundred people were injured. According to unofficial estimates, the number of killed Armenians is in the hundreds.