ArmInfo.On January 13, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sent a message on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Armenian pogroms in Baku. In a message circulated by the press service of the Prime Minister's office, in particular, it is noted:
Today we commemorate the victims of the Armenian pogroms, ethnic cleansing and mass deportation in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. Thirty years ago, the international community witnessed and condemned the massacres of the Armenian population in Baku. As a result of the policy of increasing repressions and ethnic cleansing after Sumgayit pogroms, in 1990, out of 250,000 Armenians living in Baku, only 35- 40,000 people remained, mostly elderly and helpless people. Their further fate was more tragic. Hundreds of dead, mutilated and missing, tens of thousands of refugees - these are the results of the Armenian pogroms taking place during the week in Baku. The Armenians of Baku did not pose any threat to Azerbaijan, its authorities or political forces. They only wanted to live where they and their ancestors were born. However, Azerbaijan perceived them as a threat only because of their ethnic origin>.
The prime minister also emphasized that Armenians have lived in Baku for centuries and have given this city a truly multicultural image. In the 19th century, they made a huge contribution to the foundation and development of the city's oil industry. The role of Armenians in the development of the city is also invaluable in Soviet times. "30 years after these events in Azerbaijan there is no respect or compassion for the victims of the Baku pogroms. Those few people who dared even mention the tragedy of the Armenians of Baku in their literary works were nailed to shame and officially declared traitors. Even today, people Those who committed atrocities against helpless people are considered heroes in Azerbaijan, and their crimes are considered a glorious page in the struggle for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. We should note that the past three decades in Azerbaijan have not become a time of rethinking, remorse and reconciliation, during which we witnessed attempts to destroy the Artsakh population, release and heroize the convict for the murder of Ramil Safarov, cruel torture and killings of elderly and helpless people in the border region Artsakh in April 2016.
Armenophobia has become state policy and the creed of Azerbaijan. Dear compatriots, Today we express our gratitude to all international structures and the parliament tskim authorities have responded and have documented these events, denouncing and demonstrating them worldwide. Worshiping the memory of our innocent victims, I declare with all responsibility that we will not allow new attempts to destroy or deport Armenians. The Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Artsakh and the Armenians of the whole world will make every effort to ensure the right of the Armenian people to exist and peaceful development in their historical homeland, including in Artsakh>, the head of the Armenian government said in a message. Recall that exactly 30 years ago, on January 13, ethnic riots broke out in the capital of Azerbaijan, which were accompanied by massive violence against the Armenian population, robberies, killings, arson and destruction of property. According to various sources, from 48 to 90 (according to some sources - up to three hundred) people became victims of pogroms. According to Human Rights Watch spokesman Robert Kushen, "the pogroms were not completely (or perhaps completely not) spontaneous, as the pogroms had lists of Armenians and their addresses." By the beginning of the Karabakh conflict, about 200 thousand Armenians were living in Baku with a total population of 1.7 million. At the end of February 1988, a pogrom with numerous casualties among Armenians took place in Sumgait, which became a landmark event and a turning point in the aggravation of the Karabakh conflict.