[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 29, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E280]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       24TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH WAR OF 1988 1994

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                           HON. BRAD SHERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 29, 2012

  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, this month marks the 24th anniversary of a 
dark chapter in modern history. During the Nagorno-Karabakh War of 1988 
to 1994, Armenian civilians were indiscriminately attacked.
  On the evening of February 27, 1988, Armenian civilians living in 
Sumgait, in Soviet Azerbaijan, were violently targeted in a three-day 
rampage. Armenian civilians were hunted down and brutally assaulted. 
Some were raped, and some were burned alive at the hands of rioters. 
Local police reportedly ignored repeated calls for help by Armenian 
civilians. The official figure from Soviet authorities, who prohibited 
journalists from entering the area, was just over 30 people dead and 
over 200 injured. However, it is believed that more--perhaps hundreds--
were murdered by roving mobs.
  The Sumgait Pogrom was, sadly, only the beginning.
  Despite international condemnation of the pogrom in Sumgait, another 
anti-Armenian pogrom occurred later that year in Kirovabad, Azerbaijan, 
from November 21st to 27th Due to the brutality, the Armenians of 
Kirovabad and the surrounding areas were forced to flee their homes.
  Another crime against humanity occurred yet again from January 13th 
to the 19th, in 1990. Members of the Armenian community of Baku, the 
capital of Azerbaijan, were assaulted, tortured and killed again by 
violent mobs.
  I would like to commemorate the Armenian victims of the Sumgait, 
Kirovabad, and Baku massacres to honor the memory of the murdered, and 
to stop future bloodshed. If we hope to stop future massacres, we must 
acknowledge these horrific events and ensure they do not happen again.
  We will not forget the ethnic-cleansing of the Armenians from 
Azerbaijan.
  But we need to do more--we need to demonstrate to Azerbaijan that the 
United States is committed to peace and to the protection of Artsakh 
from coercion.
  We must urge Azerbaijan to cease all threats and acts of coercion 
against the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.
  In 1992, Congress prohibited aid to Azerbaijan because of its 
continuing blockade against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. 
Unfortunately, Congress in 2001 approved a waiver to this provision and 
administrations have used the waiver since then to provide aid to Baku. 
Congress should strengthen Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act by 
removing the President's ability to waive U.S. law prohibiting aid to 
Azerbaijan because of its continuing blockade against Armenia and 
Nagorno Karabakh.
  I urge the Administration to remove all barriers to broad-based U.S.-
Nagorno Karabakh governmental and civil society communication, travel, 
and cooperation.
  We must reaffirm America's commitment to an enduring, peaceful and 
democratic resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

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