[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 22 (Thursday, February 3, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E100-E101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING THE 34TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SUMGAIT POGROMS

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                        HON. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 3, 2022

  Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI. Madam Speaker, today I rise to condemn the 
violence inflicted upon Armenians on the 34th anniversary of the 
Sumgait Pogroms in Azerbaijan. I believe that condemning these actions 
today will help prevent renewed aggression against citizens of Armenian 
descent who continue to live in Azerbaijan, while bringing attention to 
efforts to erase these atrocities from our collective memory. Further, 
I reaffirm our nation's commitment to an enduring, peaceful, and 
democratic resolution of the Artsakh conflict.
  From 1988 to 1990, the Armenian population in Soviet Azerbaijan was 
the target of ethnically targeted pogroms in the cities of Sumgait, 
Kirovabad, and Baku. Beginning on February 27, 1988 in Sumgait, 
Armenian Christians were indiscriminately murdered, raped, and maimed 
by mobs of criminals and thugs. According to independent reporting, 
police in Baku allowed the pogroms to continue for 3 days, during which 
lime Armenians were burned alive and thrown from windows,
  Despite vocal U.S. and international protests over the Sumgait 
Pogroms, renewed anti-Armenian pogroms were launched in Kirovabad on 
November 21, 1988 that lasted for seven days. Fourteen months later in 
the capital,

[[Page E101]]

Baku, another pogrom was launched against its Armenian minority. These 
vicious attacks killed hundreds of unarmed civilians and displaced tens 
of thousands of Armenians fleeing systematic violence as refugees.
  These pogroms set the stage for decades of aggression by Azerbaijan. 
In September 2020, Azerbaijan bombed the Republic of Artsakh with 
Turkish support, targeting Armenian schools and religious sites, and 
killing innocent civilians. Over a year later, Azerbaijan still 
illegally holds and tortures Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) from 
2020, despite signing a joint statement requiring all captives to be 
released.
  Madam Speaker, on this 34th anniversary of the Sumgait Pogroms, I 
want to emphasize the importance of remembering these crimes against 
humanity. I call on the Azerbaijani government to acknowledge that 
these atrocities occurred, and that it seeks justice for the victims by 
prosecuting those who committed these horrific acts of violence. I also 
call upon the government of Azerbaijan to take all appropriate action 
to prevent further tragedies of this nature, and to respect the rights 
of all minorities living within its borders. I condemn Azerbaijan's 
ongoing aggression against Armenia, and call on the Azerbaijani 
government to immediately and unconditionally release all Armenian POWs 
and captive civilians.

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