[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 34 (Friday, February 28, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E276]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         COMMEMORATION OF SUMGAIT, KIROVABAD AND BAKU MASSACRES

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                        HON. DAVID N. CICILLINE

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 28, 2014

  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, today we commemorate the 26th Anniversary 
of the horrific Sumgait Pogroms. On February 27, 1988 organized mobs of 
Azerbaijanis aimed at killing and driving Armenian Christians living in 
Sumgait from their homes. Armed with sticks, axes and iron rods, they 
attacked Armenian men, women and children by breaking into their homes 
and brutally beating and killing them just because of their ethnicity. 
Despite Sumgait's 30 minute proximity to Baku, police allowed the 
pogroms to go on for 3 days, during which Armenians were burned alive 
and thrown from windows.
   These acts were merely a continuation of the Azerbaijani 
authorities' unswerving policy of racism towards Armenians and ethnic 
cleansing of the Armenian population, with unpunished killings and 
deportations.
   The Sumgait massacre is a black mark on history and sadly, this 
event sparked further violence as Armenians would be targeted less than 
9 months later in Kirovabad and again in Baku in 1990.
   The Azerbaijani Government has shamefully continued to undermine 
prospects for a lasting peace in the Southern Caucuses, recently in 
2012, pardoning an Azerbaijani military officer Ramil Safarov who 
brutally murdered Armenian military officer Gurgen Margaryan during a 
NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace exercise in 2004. Safarov 
confessed and was convicted in Budapest for brutally axing Margaryan 
while he was sleeping. Safarov never showed remorse for the murder and 
stated that he wished he had killed more Armenians. Immediately after 
his pardon Safarov received a promotion in the Azerbaijani military, an 
apartment, and years of back pay for his time spent in prison.
   For more than 20 years, the people of Nagorno Karabakh have fought 
and died for their independence. From the earliest days of its 
formation, the Republic's freely elected governmental bodies have 
helped build an open democratic society through transparent elections 
and it is critical that the United States support their independence 
and autonomy.
   As we reflect on these horrific outbreaks of ethnic violence, I join 
with Armenians in Rhode Island, and across the world in remembering 
these victims and renewing our commitment to justice, independence and 
finding lasting peace.
   I am proud to say Rhode Island was the first state in our nation to 
pass a resolution to recognize the Independence of the Nagorno Karabakh 
Republic and set an example for other legislatures to follow, like 
Massachusetts, Maine and Louisiana. The time has come for the United 
States Congress to do the same.

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