February 27 marks the 24th anniversary of a violent and horrific attack against Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian descent, U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA) said in her remarks as she took the house floor to commemorate the massacre of the Armenian population in Sumgait.
“The 1988 attacks began in the town of Sumgait in Soviet Azerbaijan Dozens of Armenians were killed, and hundreds more were wounded. During what even the Soviet government officially described as a “pogrom” – an organized massacre of helpless people – Armenian women and children were raped, and people were set on fire and beaten to death, all while police stood by,” she said.
“Tragically, the events in Sumgait presaged further pogroms in Kirovabad in November of 1988 and Baku in January of 1990. This violence initiated a broader attack against Azerbaijan’s Armenian population, resulting in thousands of deaths. The conflict persists today, and the Azeri military blockade of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and other aggression sadly continues,” Rep. Eshoo went on.
“For me, it is also a very personal remembrance. My own family fled the slaughter of the Armenian Genocide under the Ottomans, and when we learned of the massacres against Armenians in 1988, we saw history repeating itself. These vicious acts of murder targeted at ethnic groups, must be forcefully condemned whenever and wherever we see them. Yet 96 years after the slaughter of Armenians the U.S. House of Representatives has yet to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide,” she emphasized.
“Without our recognition and our forceful condemnation, the cycle of violence will continue. Today, Christians and other minority groups are being driven from Iraq by extremists, and the once large and diverse ethnic communities are being eradicated. Without our attention and action by the world community, there will be no end to this senseless violence around the world.
Today, let us remember the Armenians who lost their lives in Azerbaijan in 1988, and pray that the world will finally take greater account of these atrocities and work together. Let us take up the work that our principles demand of us, standing united against ethnic violence, discrimination, extremism and brutality, wherever we find it,” Rep. Eshoo said.
