Sumgait pogroms

In the period between February 27-29, 1988, mass pogroms against the Armenian population took place in the city of Sumgait, which is also known as the "Sumgait pogrom".

On February 26, 1988, a rally called by the city authorities began in Sumgait, where anti-Armenian slogans were sounded. On February 27, the Azerbaijani nationalists gathered in the streets with the slogan "Death to the Armenians" began to destroy the houses of the Armenian population of the city and kill people. They called to punish the Armenians and demanded to take strict measures. "Kill and expel them from Sumgait and, in general, from Azerbaijan."

On February 27, 1988, Azerbaijani nationalists started mass massacres against the Armenian population in the city of Sumgait, 25 km from Baku. The population of the city was 250 thousand people, of which 18 thousand were Armenians.

The massacres continued for 3 days, the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Azerbaijani SSR did not interfere with what was happening. Ambiguous characterization and condemnation of the events led to the continuation of massacres of Armenians in other cities of Azerbaijan, in particular massacres took place in November 1988 in Gandzak and in January 1990 in Baku.

On February 29, the Soviet army entered Sumgait, but it was too late.

More than 110 Armenians were killed in Sumgait within three days. Most of them were killed by burning after torture. Film director Andrey Konchalovsky "Heydar Aliyev. in the film "The Burden of Power", which was filmed on the order of Azerbaijan, testifies. "More than 100 Armenians were killed in Sumgait in just one night."

The design was planned in advance. This is evidenced by the presence of lists of Armenians' apartments among the perpetrators, the pre-developed scenario and the division of roles: perpetrators of murder and massacres, looters, property destroyers, and those who remove traces of crime.

Sumgait finally eliminated the basis of the claims of possible coexistence of Armenians and Azerbaijanis, leading to war and bloody military clashes in the following years.

The Sumgait massacre became the first large-scale manifestation of the discriminatory and genocidal policy implemented by Azerbaijan against the Armenian people for decades.

From the enemy's steps to cover up these events

As early as January 1898, the Azerbaijani historian Ziya Bunyatov claimed that the Sumgait pogroms were organized by the Armenians themselves to discredit Azerbaijan, as well as to justify their nationalism. Already in 1990, another Azerbaijani provision appeared, the basis of which was Davud Imanov's film "Sumgait Reaction", where Armenians, Russians and Americans were accused of organizing the pogroms, which were trying to destroy the Soviet Union in this way.

The massacres in Sumgait continue to be an object of denial by the Azerbaijani authorities. Denial, without supporting it with evidence, has been the basis of the policy of the Azerbaijani authorities, which continues today at the official level.

Azerbaijan's policy of intimidation, gross violation of human rights, threat of force, ethnic cleansing has not changed.