[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2662]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            SUMGAIT POGROMS

  (Ms. JUDY CHU of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, 27 years ago, as the lines 
of the Soviet Union were fading, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh were 
united in a call for a say in their own futures and greater 
independence from Azerbaijan. This peaceful movement for self-
determination and freedom was followed by premeditated and government-
sponsored attacks.
  Over the next 2 years, the Armenian population in the territory of 
Artsakh was repeatedly victim to brutal and racially-motivated pogroms, 
darkly reminiscent of the days of the Armenian genocide. Hundreds were 
murdered, thousands were displaced, and the Armenian community, both in 
Artsakh and in exile, continues to bear the scars from the brutal 
attacks in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku.
  When the people of Nagorno-Karabakh officially declared independence 
on December 10, 1991, they were met with full-scale war lasting until 
1994. Even today, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh are still forced to 
live under constant cease-fire violations by Azerbaijan.
  As we commemorate the somber anniversary marking the struggle of the 
Nagorno-Karabakh people, we wish for the peaceful resolution of this 
conflict and hope that its citizens will be free to determine their own 
future.

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