[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 37 (Monday, February 27, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E152]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            COMMEMORATING THE VICTIMS OF THE SUMGAIT POGROM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 27, 2023

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 35th 
anniversary of the pogrom against the Armenian residents of the town of 
Sumgait, Azerbaijan. Beginning on February 27, 1988, and over the 
course of three days, Azerbaijani mobs assaulted and killed Armenians. 
The violence left dozens of Armenian civilians dead and hundreds 
injured, women and girls were raped, and some victims were burned alive 
after being tortured and beaten. Thousands were forced to flee their 
homes, leaving behind their belongings. Armenian homes and businesses 
were left to be looted and destroyed.
  The pogroms came about as the result of years of hateful, racist 
anti-Armenian propaganda woven into the very fabric of Azerbaijani 
society by Azerbaijani leaders, who made little effort to punish those 
responsible, instead attempting to cover up the atrocities in Sumgait 
and denying the government's role in instigating the killings. This 
unprovoked violence against Armenians was a precursor to subsequent 
attacks on ethnic Armenians, including the pogroms in Kirovabad, Baku, 
and the Maragha Massacre.
  Time has not healed the wounds of those victimized in the pogroms or 
their families because three decades later, Azerbaijan's aggression 
against the people of Armenia and Artsakh continues.
  Beginning on September 27, 2020, and over 44 days, Azerbaijani forces 
once again targeted and murdered innocent Armenians in Artsakh and 
displaced tens of thousands more. Azerbaijan's violence again escalated 
in September of 2022, when Azeri forces shelled homes in the villages 
of Karmir Shuka and Taghavard in Artsakh and launched an unprovoked 
assault on sovereign Armenian territory.
  Today, Azerbaijan continues to terrorize the people of Artsakh by 
blocking the Lachin Corridor--the only road connecting Artsakh to 
Armenia. Since the blockade on December 12, 2022, the humanitarian 
crisis in Artsakh has grown more dire by the day, with widespread 
shortages of food, medicine and other necessities and rolling blackouts 
amid freezing temperatures. The effect has been devastating to the 
120,000 individuals living in Artsakh, including children and the 
elderly.
  These are the horrific consequences when aggression and hatred grow 
unchecked and when Aliyev's hostility is met with deafening silence, 
emboldening him to continue, and expand, his unprovoked attacks on the 
Armenian people, knowing there will be no repercussions. This is why 
Azerbaijan considers it acceptable to annihilate Armenians in their 
historical homeland. We cannot allow violence and crimes against 
humanity to go unanswered.
  The United States must immediately and permanently stop all U.S. 
assistance to Azerbaijan and impose sanctions. It must also direct U.S. 
humanitarian assistance to Artsakh, call for the safe and unconditional 
release of the remaining Armenian prisoners of war and captured 
civilians, hold Azerbaijan accountable for the destruction of religious 
and cultural sites, and support democracy in Armenia and a free, 
independent Artsakh.
  On this tragic anniversary, as we pause to remember the innocent 
victims of the pogroms, we are also reminded that despite the trials 
the Armenian people have faced, it has not broken their faith, 
determination, and their wilt to survive in the face of constant 
threats from Azerbaijan. Today, let us recommit ourselves to doing 
everything we can to bring liberation to our Armenian brothers and 
sisters abroad, once and for all.

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