Helsinki Commission Chair honors memory of Sumgait pogrom victims

PanARMENIAN.Net - Helsinki Commission Chair Rep. Alcee L. Hastings issued a statement to commemorate the victims of the Sumgait pogrom, "part of the tragic human toll of inter-ethnic conflict that culminated in the Nagorno-Karabakh war and the stark division of Armenian and Azeri societies."

“On this day in 1988, an ethnically driven and violent campaign drove thousands of innocent Armenians out of Azerbaijan. I hope ongoing talks between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will contribute to the effort to bind these wounds and serve the ultimate cause of peace and reconciliation,” he saidon the 31st anniversary of the Sumgait pogrom

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Vice-Chair of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, submitted a statement to the Congressional Record honoring the lives of those lost in the pogrom thirty-one years ago.