U.S. Senator slams Azerbaijan’s threats against Armenia, Karabakh

March 11, 2014 - 17:16 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Illinois Republican Senator Mark Kirk “strongly condemned” Azerbaijan’s ongoing threats and violence against Armenia and the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh, in a powerfully worded statement marking the 26th anniversary of Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian massacres in Sumgait, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

“We join with Armenian Americans, here in Illinois and across America, in thanking Senator Kirk for his principled and powerful stand for peace,” said ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian, of Lake Forest, Illinois. "Senator Kirk, who is a senior senate appropriator, began his remarks spotlighting Azerbaijani hate-crimes against Armenians in Sumgait from February 26 to 28, 1988, stating, “I join my Armenian-American constituents in Illinois in commemorating the memory of those who perished in anti-Armenian violence in Sumgait, Soviet Azerbaijan twenty-six years ago. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured during three days of horrific violence. The entire Armenian population of Sumgait fled as a result. The perpetrators of these heinous acts have never been brought to justice.”

The Senator then turned to Azerbaijan’s ongoing aggression against Armenia and Artsakh, noting, “As we remember the Sumgait victims, I call on the current Government of Azerbaijan to immediately halt its campaign of incitement and hatred against Armenia that threatens to de-stabilize the region. It is deplorable that the President of Azerbaijan would pardon and glorify the convicted murderer Ramil Safarov, who killed a sleeping Armenian soldier while both were on a NATO Partnership for Peace program. I strongly condemn repeated statements from Azerbaijani officials that threaten violence against Armenia and the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.”

Over the past week, Sen. Kirk was joined by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA), fellow Committee colleagues Brad Sherman (D-CA) and David Cicilline (D-RI), Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Judy Chu (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI) and Linda Sanchez (D-CA) in issuing similar statements condemning the Sumgait, Baku and Kirovabad pogroms and calling on Azerbaijan to end its aggression against Armenia and the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.

Related links:

ANCA

Armenian pogrom in Baku

The Armenian pogrom in Baku was part of Azerbaijani authorities' anti-Armenian program calculated to bring about the destruction of the town's Armenian population. The seven-day pogroms perpetrated by Azerbaijani SSR broke out on January 13, 1990, leaving 300 Armenians dead. The real number of victims remains unclear to date.

The Sumgait Pogrom

The Sumgait Pogrom was the Azeri-led pogrom that targeted the Armenian population living in the Azerbaijani seaside town of Sumgait in February 1988. On February 27, 1988, large mobs made up of Azeris formed into groups that went on to attack and kill Armenians in both on the streets and in their apartments; widespread looting and a general lack of concern from police officers allowed the situation to worsen. The violent acts in Sumgait were unprecedented in scope in the Soviet Union and attracted a great deal of attention from the media in the West. The massacre came in light of the Nagorno-Karabakh movement that was gaining traction in the neighbouring Armenia SSR.

Gurgen Margaryan

On February 19, 2004, Lieutenant of the Armenian Armed Forces Gurgen Margaryan, 26, was hacked to death, while asleep, by a fellow Azerbaijani participant, lieutenant Ramil Safarov, in Budapest during a three-month English language course in the framework of Partnership for Peace NATO-sponsored program. In accordance with Budapest District Court sentence dated April 13, 2006, Ramil Safarov was life imprisoned for murdering the Armenian officer.

On February 22, 2007, Budapest Court rejected the Azerbaijani military officer's appeal against a life sentence. The appeal court ruled that the decision brought by Budapest District Court against 30-year-old Lieutenant Ramil Safarov, should stand.

On August 31, 2012, Hungary extradited Safarov back to Azerbaijan, where he was promptly pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev.