ArmInfo. The NKR self-determination is the only way to ensure the security of Armenians in Artsakh. President of the National Assembly of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan stated this on January 13 at the Tsitsernkaberd memorial complex. It should be noted that the country's leadership today paid tribute to the victims of the pogroms of Armenians in Baku, which occurred 30 years ago.
Mirzoyan, in particular, stated: "The mass pogroms of Armenians in Baku, repeated for the third time in a century, as well as the massacres of Armenians in Sumgait, Kirovabad and other Azerbaijani cities, are vivid evidence that the physical security of Armenians cannot be ensured at the territory of Azerbaijan and within the framework of Azerbaijani sovereignty.
Accordingly, the NKR's self-determination is the only way to ensure the security of Armenians in Artsakh, and the Republic of Armenia is the guarantor of this security, "the speaker concluded. It should be noted that exactly 30 years ago, on January 13, ethnic unrest broke out in the capital of Azerbaijan, which was accompanied by mass 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 reporter 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. In late February 1988, pogroms 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.