Georgian Diocese of Armenian Apostolic Church commemorate victims of Armenian pogroms in Baku.

PanARMENIAN.Net - On January 17 the Armenian Church of St. Echmiadzin in Tbilisi and all the churches of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) served the liturgy and requiem for the victims of the Armenian pogroms in Baku in 1990. 

Leader of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanian served requiem the Armenian Church of St. Echmiadzin in Tbilisi. 



As press office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia reported, the service was attended by the Ambassador of Armenia to Georgia Silvanyan Hrach, leader of the Gegharkunik Diocese of AAC, Bishop Marcos Hovhannisyan, locum tenens of the leader of the Georgian Diocese of Javakhk monk Babken Salibyan, representatives of Armenian organizations in Georgia, as well as numerous believers. 



After the service, participants   laid a wreath at the cross stone in memory of victims of the Armenian pogroms in Baku.

On January 13, 1990, the Azerbaijani authorities instigated the Armenian pogroms of Baku. Some 400 Armenians were killed and 200 thousand were exiled in the period of January 13-19. The exact number of those killed was never determined, as no investigation was carried out into the crimes.  



On the above-mentioned date, a crowd numbering 50 thousand people divided into groups and started "cleaning" the city of Armenians. On January 17, the European Parliament called on EU Council of Foreign Ministers and European Council to protect Armenians and render assistance to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. On January 18, a group of U.S. Senators sent a letter to Mikhail Gorbachev to express concerns over the violence against the Armenian population in Azerbaijan and called for unification of Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia.