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Armenian Embassy in Belgium calls to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Sumgait pogroms

The Armenian Embassy in the Kingdom of Belgium calls on all interested parties to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Armenian Pogroms in Sumgait and do whatever it takes to prevent such ethic hate crimes in the future. “As we remember the victims of these senseless atrocities, let us never forget our responsibility to one another as members of the human race and the importance of standing up to abuse or discrimination wherever it occurs,” the Embassy said in a statement.

“Today the Armenians all over the world mark the 25th anniversary of Armenian pogroms in Sumgait, Azerbaijan. For three days in February, 1988, the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait became the arena of pogroms against the Armenians of the city. Dozens of Armenian were killed, majority of whom were set afire alive after being beaten and tortured. Hundreds of innocent people received injuries and became physically impaired. Women, among them minors, were raped. Thousands of people became refugees.

The Sumgait tragedy was a brutal, organized attempt to block a political solution to the peaceful demands of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabagh for self-determination. These events marked the beginning of a premeditated plan to depopulate Azerbaijan of Armenians.

This crime was not given its adequate political and legal evaluation. Not only its organizers and primary executors were set free, but also until today their names remained unknown to the world. Despite the fact that everything possible was done to conceal the circumstances of the crime committed in Sumgait and to distort its nature, there are enough documents, witness accounts and other facts that lead to one and only conclusion: the pogroms were organized and executed on high governmental level,” the statement reads.

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