[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 36 (Monday, February 28, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E181-E182]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       COMMEMORATING THE VICTIMS OF THE SUMGAIT AND BAKU POGROMS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 28, 2022

  Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to mark the 34th anniversary 
of the pogrom against the Armenian residents of the town of Sumgait, 
Azerbaijan.
  On February 27, 1988, and for three days following, Azerbaijani mobs 
assaulted and killed Armenians--leaving hundreds of civilians dead and 
injured and women and girls were raped. Some victims were thrown from 
windows and burned alive. Tens of thousands were forced to flee.

[[Page E182]]

  After two years, it was estimated that only 40,000 of the 250,000 
Armenian residents of Baku remained in Azerbaijan. On January 13, 1990, 
organized Azerbaijani mobs turned on them, too, killing hundreds and 
injuring many more.
  The pogroms came as a direct result of years of vicious, racist anti-
Armenian propaganda by Azerbaijani authorities, dehumanizing the 
Armenian residents of Azerbaijan and laying the groundwork for mass 
violence. Azerbaijani authorities made little effort to punish those 
responsible, instead attempting to cover up the atrocities and deny the 
government's role in instigating the attacks.
  On such an anniversary, we honor the victims of this ghastly 
injustice, and pledge to speak out against hatred so that history will 
not repeat itself. But tragically, more than three decades later, that 
is exactly what has happened. Beginning on September 27, 2020, and over 
44 days, Azerbaijani forces once again targeted and murdered innocent 
Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh, and displaced 
tens of thousands more. Today, Azerbaijani aggression against the 
people of Armenia and Artsakh continues. Armenian soldiers are still 
illegally detained and subject to torture while thousands of civilians 
still live in danger. Religious and cultural Armenian sites that have 
fallen under Azerbaijani control are under constant threat.
  These are the horrific consequences when aggression and hatred grow 
unchecked--and it is why, whether these crimes against humanity 
occurred one year, thirty years, or a hundred years ago, we can never 
allow them to go unrecognized. More than that, it is why the United 
States must fully step into its role as a defender of democracy and 
peace around the world. We must not relent in our calls for the safe 
and unconditional release of the remaining Armenian prisoners of war 
and captured civilians, for the end of U.S. assistance to the Aliyev 
regime, and for stronger efforts to support democracy in Armenia and a 
free, independent Artsakh.
  So on this tragic anniversary, let us pause to remember those who 
suffered in the atrocities of the Sumgait and Baku pogroms. But let us 
also recommit ourselves and our nation to doing everything we can, 
today, to bring liberation to our Armenian brothers and sisters abroad, 
once and for all.

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