Azerbaijan Orders OSCE To Close Baku Office

June 5, 2015 By administrator

By Carl Schreck

June 05, 2015

Azerbaijan’s move to close the OSCE office comes just days after the contract of the organization’s project coordinator in Baku, Alexis Chahtahtinsky (pictured), expired.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says Azerbaijan has given it one month to halt its operations in the country and that Baku provided “no explanation” for the decision.

OSCE spokesman Shiv Sharma told RFE/RL on June 5 that Azerbaijani authorities this week “informed us of their intentions of closing the office” of its project coordinator in Baku and that the 57-member security organization is “now assessing our options.”

The move comes amid heightened criticism of Azerbaijan’s record on civil society and media freedoms by Western officials and international human rights watchdogs.

Rights groups say Baku has escalated its efforts to muzzle government opponents since Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was reelected for a third term in 2013.

The Vienna-based OSCE has been a prominent voice among those critics.

In November, its media freedoms representative, Dunja Mijatovic, said that “practically all independent media representatives and media NGOs” in Azerbaijan “have been purposefully persecuted under various, often unfounded and disturbing charges.”

Azerbaijan has bristled at Western criticism of its human rights record, saying such censure lacks objectivity.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, which notified the OSCE that Baku was terminating an agreement allowing the organization to operate in the country, had not commented publicly on the situation as of June 5.

Azerbaijan’s human rights record has also faced increasing international scrutiny in the run-up to the European Games, an Olympics-style event limited to athletes from Europe that is set to open on June 12.

Status Downgrade

EU lawmakers last month called on Azerbaijan to release individuals widely seen as political prisoners ahead of the games and urged European leaders to skip the event’s opening ceremony in Baku.

The OSCE office in Baku was downgraded to the office of a “project coordinator,” reportedly at Azerbaijan’s request, in January 2014.

The downgrade of the mission came at the request of the Azerbaijani government, which cited the country’s “significant progress” since the OSCE office in Baku was opened in 1999.

Khadija Ismayilova, a journalist and contributor to RFE/RL currently jailed in Azerbaijan on a series of charges that have been internationally condemned as politically motivated, testified before U.S. lawmakers in November that the downgrade had led to a halt of “most” of the OSCE office’s projects “related to media and combating corruption.”

Among other duties, the OSCE coordinator had been tasked with “implementing OSCE principles and commitments” and “maintaining contacts” with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), local authorities, universities, and research institutions.

NGOs have been among the numerous targets of a crackdown by Azerbaijani authorities, including groups promoting free-media efforts in Azerbaijan.

In April, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, Nils Muiznieks, said “human rights defenders are harassed through restrictive NGO legislation and selectively targeted with criminal prosecutions on charges that defy credibility.”

RFE/RL last month closed its Baku bureau after Azeri authorities sealed the office shut last December in connection with the government-led campaign against foreign organizations. RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service, however, continues to operate on digital and satellite platforms.

RFE/RL Editor in Chief Nenad Pejic said on May 22 that the Azerbaijani authorities had acted “illegally and arbitrarily.”

Azerbaijani ‘Masters’

Azerbaijan’s move to close the OSCE office comes just days after the contract of the organization’s project coordinator in Baku, France’s Alexis Chahtahtinsky, expired.

Novruz Mammadov, the deputy head of Aliyev’s administration and director of its Foreign Relations Department, suggested on Twitter on June 1 that Chahtahtinsky was relieved of his duties because of U.S. objections to the French diplomat’s public appearance with Aliyev.

Mammadov appeared to be referring to a July 2014 statement by Daniel Baer, the U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE, in which he criticized Chahtahtinsky for being photographed with Aliyev and Azerbaijan’s foreign minister but not “with civil society.”

“While consultation with the host government is certainly an important part of your work, you work for all of us, and you work for the principles that underlie this organization. Your masters are not the government of Azerbaijan,” Baer said, addressing Chahtahtinsky in the statement.

Baer did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

But France’s ambassador to the OSCE, Maxime Lefebvre, told RFE/RL that the decision not to renew Chahtahtinsky’s contract was not linked to politics or OSCE-Azerbaijani ties, but rather to “internal management problems.”

Lefebvre said the OSCE “would like Azerbaijan to remain committed” to the organization and “would like the mission to continue its work.”

He added that it would be regrettable if the decision to close the Baku office was confirmed, “because we think it’s important that we keep a field presence of the OSCE in Azerbaijan and that we maintain good relations between Azerbaijan as a participating state with the OSCE.”

Germany’s Merkel, Gauck refuse to visit Baku over political prisoners

June 5, 2015 By administrator

German leadership and government members will not attend the opening ceremony of the European Games in Baku on June 12. The cancellation is caused by a protest against the fact that there are over 100 political prisoners in Azerbaijan, including opposition activists, journalists and human rights defenders, Panorama.am reports citing German newspaper DerTagesspiegel.

According to the article published at DerTagesspiegel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel won’t be travelling to Baku. The Minister of the Interior, Thomas de Maizière who supervises sports sector has also turned down the trip, with Joachim Gauck, the President of Germany to stay in Berlin on June 12.

DerTagesspiegel further notes that the Azeri ruling regime has recently intensified the crackdowns. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders said that the laters are relentlessly prosecuted and repressed in Azerbaijan. “During President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Berlin in February, Merkel said that she disagreed with Ilham Aliyev regarding the human rights situation in the country,” the author of the article Claudia von Salzen notes.

She further says that there are over 100 opposition activists, journalists and human rights defenders in Azerbaijani jail. Well-known activist Rasul Jafarov, who tried to draw attention to human rights situation his country ahead of the European Games, is among them.

The newspaper points that the Chancellor, the Minister of the Interior and the President normally attend events of such level.

According to Turan agency, another influential German outlet Frankfurter Allgemeine reported that the German athletes urged for the release of the political prisoners in Azerbaijan. By this, they supported the call of the Council of Europe Commissioner Nils Muižnieks, UN special rapporteur Michel Forst, and OSCE special representative Dunja Mijatović.

The author of the article, Christoph Becker, notes that Christian Schreiber from the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) told the newspaper that respect for the fundamental human rights and the right for criticism is vital. “We join UN envoy’s call on all the countries to respect those rights,” he stressed.

According to the article, Michael Vesper from DOSB also endorsed UN rapporteur’s call.

In June, Azerbaijan will host the first ever European Games, with Formula 1 Grand Prixto be held in 2016. According to the international rights groups, the Azerbaijani authorities have intensified the crackdowns against the dissidents so that nothing can overshadow the two huge sport events to be hosted. The European Games will cost several billion dollars. Demolition of a large number of houses started in 2014 in Baku in the framework of the preparatory works for the Games.

Panorama.am. Germany leadership not to attend European Games in Baku, and athletes call for Azerbaijani political prisoners’ release

Armenian Wrestlers Balk At Baku Games

June 5, 2015 By administrator

By Tony Wesolowsky

“No matter how much they say that there will be equal conditions, it is one thing to say it and another thing to do it,” says Armenian wrestler Arsen Julfalakian (right), an Olympic silver medalist.

Critics accuse Baku of using the event to try to whitewash the country’s poor human rights record.

“No one should be fooled by the glitz and glamor of the international show Azerbaijan is putting on to portray a squeaky-clean international reputation and attract foreign business,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s director for Europe and Central Asia.

Some 100 political prisoners are believed to be held in Azerbaijan and many more activists and journalists face harassment and travel bans.

Azerbaijan is pulling out all the stops to ensure the games are a success. President Ilham Aliyev has spent a reported $10 billion on stadiums and infrastructure. His government has also promised to pay the travel and accommodation expenses for all 6,000 competing athletes.

Armenia’s decision to take part in the first-ever European Games in Azerbaijan, which take place this month, was a victory of sorts for sport diplomacy.

The two countries have been feuding for 25 years over the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway and predominantly ethnic Armenian region within Azerbaijan. More than 30,000 people were killed there in a war in the early 1990s.

So there was cheering when Armenia’s National Olympic Committee (NOCA) announced in March that it planned to send athletes to the games. Among the most vocal supporters of the move was the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE), which has been involved in two decades of diplomacy to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

But not everyone in Armenia was pleased, and two high-profile athletes and a coach from the country have since announced that they will boycott the event, mainly for what they say are security concerns.

The two athletes staying away are both Greco-Roman wrestlers and both medal winners from the 2012 London Olympic Games: silver medalist Arsen Julfalakian and bronze medalist Artur Aleksanian, whose father and coach, Gevorg, is also joining the boycott.

In an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, Julfalakian said his decision was based on the bad experience he had in Baku in 2007 when Azerbaijan hosted the Greco-Roman wrestling world championships.

Julfalakian said he and his teammates felt like “prisoners” and were shadowed constantly, he claims, by Azerbaijani security forces.

“Even going to the bathroom was done under a tight security watch,” the 28-year-old wrestler said. “A security guard checked it in advance and only after that could we use the bathroom. We were separated from the public; we couldn’t go into the city.”

Julfalakian said he’s convinced things will be the same at the European Games, despite Azerbaijani assurances that Armenian athletes will be treated like everyone else.

“No matter how much they say that there will be equal conditions, it is one thing to say it and another thing to do it,” Julfalakian said. “I say this not just because I think so — I’ve seen it.”

Julfalakian went on to explain that in 2007, when the Armenian athletes arrived to compete in the Greco-Roman championships, they were taken to their hotel on a bus with a Turkish flag on it and were told it was “to avoid any attack.”

“No vehicle could come close to our hotel. Only Armenians and ethnic Armenians from foreign countries lived in that hotel, with the exception of, I think, Switzerland,” he added. “The whole beach was cordoned off by police. There was one fully armed soldier every 15 meters.”

Some 6,000 athletes from 50 countries are due to compete in 20 sports at the athletic gala in the Azerbaijani capital, which starts on June 12 and ends on June 28. The games are a scaled down, European-only version of the Olympic Games.

Armenia is sending 25 athletes to compete in six disciplines ranging from tae kwon do and judo to boxing and Greco-Roman wrestling.

Boxer Hovhannes Bachkov told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that he’s used to the hostile crowds in Azerbaijan, having performed there twice in the past.

“The whistles and screams used to bother me, but it shouldn’t bother me now since I experienced it there before,” Bachkov said in a recent interview.

Another boxer, Samvel Barseghian, sees the games as a chance to defend Armenia’s national honor, especially on Azerbaijani soil.

“We realize that it is going to be difficult there,” Barseghian said. “But in some sense it is also a great opportunity, a chance to have the flag of our country raised in Azerbaijan, a chance to uphold the honor of our nation.”

Many in the international community welcomed Armenia’s decision to go to the games, viewing any interaction between the two rivals as positive.

James Warlick, the U.S. diplomat who co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group mediating talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, called the decision “good news” in a tweet back in March.

Azerbaijan: Sports Body Defends Baku Games Amid ‘Devastating Clampdown’

May 14, 2015 By administrator

By RFE/RL

May 06, 2015

BRUSSELS — A senior European sports official has defended plans to hold the first-ever European Games in Baku next month amid what rights groups say is a growing crackdown on the media and civil society by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s government.

Speaking at the European Parliament in Brussels on May 6, European Olympic Committees (EOC) Vice-President Janez Kocijancic indicated that the organization will not act on the basis of political concerns, saying the EOC “cannot accept political engagements.”

Rights defenders have questioned plans to hold the inaugural European Games on June 12-28 in Azerbaijan, where several journalists, activists, and government critics jailed in the past year are widely considered to be political prisoners targeted in a campaign to silence dissent.

The long-ruling Aliyev is “forging ahead with the most devastating clampdown on human rights in 24 years of post-Soviet independence,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, at the same panel in the European Parliament.

“He has arrested many of the Azerbaijani human rights advocates and journalists who could have brought scrutiny and transparency to the conduct of these games if they were not in jail,” Worden said.

Rasul Cafarov, an activist who was arrested in August after announcing plans for a campaign to draw attention to the rights situation ahead of the European Games, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison last month after a trial on financial crimes charges he says were politically motivated.

Worden said that the EOC, which groups 49 national Olympic Committees in the region, “has the power and the leverage to tell Baku to release prisoners and to stop threatening journalists before the games begin.”

Kocijancic said that the organization expects that it will help “democratize every society where we will go” and use “whatever influence we have to make this society better and more open,” but that EOC cannot accept responsibility for changing political matters as this is not within the scope of its activity.

He noted that Azerbaijan chaired the Council of Europe for six months last year, and said that the oil-producing Caspian Sea coast nation has increased trade with the European Union “tremendously.”

Based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels

TURKEY Demonstration in Ankara against Baku

May 3, 2015 By administrator

Protesters held placards which stated “we burn the dogs in Baku” (R) and “Say no to killing a dog” during a protest in Ankara which opposes the slaughter of stray dogs in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, before the 2015 European Games.

Sunday, May 3, 2015,
Stéphane © armenews.com

Senate and House Members Condemn Sumgait, Baku Massacres

March 10, 2015 By administrator

Senator Gary Peters; Representatives Katherine Clark, Jim Costa, Robert Dold, Frank Pallone, Adam Schiff, and Brad Sherman are the Latest to Speak Out on Ongoing Azerbaijani Aggression Against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh

WASHINGTON—Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) was joined by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Robert Dold (R-IL) and Representatives Katherine Clark (D-MA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Brad Sherman (D-CA) in commemorating the brutal massacres of Armenians in the Azerbaijani cities of Baku, Sumgait and Kirovabad from 1988-1990 and condemning the ongoing violence and intimidation fostered by the government of President Ilham Aliyev, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). They add their voices to Rep. Judy Chu, who was the first to offer impassioned remarks on the topic on the House floor last week.

“Armenian Americans from Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and California and across America thank these bold legislators for adding their voices to those of their Congressional colleagues in commemorating the Azerbaijani government fomented pogroms against the Armenian populations of Sumgait, Baku and Kirovabad,” stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Their powerful words help commemorate the lives of those who were lost, while also helping to protect those who survived – by both condemning Azerbaijan’s ongoing aggression and supporting the freedom and security of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.”

“I wish to recognize the victims of the mass murder of Armenians 27 years ago during the state-sponsored pogroms in Sumgait, Azerbaijan,” began Senator Peters. “True democracies must respect the rights of the minority, allow citizens to peacefully speak freely, and protect the human rights of all residents. The people of Nagorno Karabakh and the victims of this senseless massacre played a critical role in promoting a democracy movement which helped to end the Soviet Union.”

Congressman Pallone explained, “We have a shared responsibility to speak out when groups of people are targeted with oppression and violence just because of their ethnicity. Along with my colleagues on the Congressional Armenian Issues Caucus, I continue my efforts to try and shed light on these events so that those lives lost are not forgotten. We will continue to promote mutual understanding and security through the Caucasus region. It is my hope that we can all join together in condemning acts of violence in the past, and renew our commitment to vigilance in the future.”

In a statement shared with the ANCA, Rep. Dold noted, “The massacres that took place 27 years ago in Sumgait serve as a reminder of the struggle for freedom and liberty around the world. Today I stand in solidarity with the Armenian community and the people of Nagorno Karabakh who mourn the loss of friends and family. The United States must continue to work with the people of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh to ensure their future safety and peace.”

Congressman Schiff reminded his colleagues of Pres. Ilham Aliyev’s pardon and praise for the killer of an innocent Armenian soldier in his sleep. “Time has not healed the wounds of those killed and hurt in the pogroms in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku. To the contrary, hatred of Armenians is celebrated in Azeri society, a situation most vividly exemplified by the case of Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani army captain who savagely murdered an Armenian army lieutenant, Gurgen Margaryan with an axe while he slept. The two were participating in a NATO Partnership for Peace exercise at the time in Hungary. In 2012, Safarov was sent home to Azerbaijan, purportedly to serve out the remainder of his sentence. Instead, he was pardoned, promoted, and paraded through the streets of Baku in a sickening welcome home. And as we speak, Azerbaijan continues its dangerous and provocative behavior along its border with Armenia and in Karabakh.”

“I am proud to stand today with the Armenian-American community, including many of my constituents in Massachusetts, in remembrance and mourning of this unspeakable tragedy,” stated Rep. Clark. “Like the persecution of too many others before it, the lessons of the Sumgait Pogrom must not be forgotten. We have a moral obligation to promote tolerance and justice, and we have a duty to recognize the atrocities that have kept us from our common goal.”

Reminding colleagues of Azerbaijan’s ongoing attacks on Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, Rep. Costa stated, “In November 2014, Azerbaijani armed forces shot down a Nagorno-Karabakh helicopter participating in a training exercise near the cease-fire line, killing the three crew members on board. This aggression is completely unacceptable and further hurts efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution. Today, I ask my colleagues to stand with the proud people of Nagorno Karabakh in recognizing the anniversary of these tragic events. Let today serve as a reminder for each and every one of us to continue advocating for human rights and democratic freedoms around the world.”

Congressman Sherman noted his meeting last month with Marat Khoudabakhshiev, “whose family barely survived pogroms perpetrated 27 years ago today against the Armenian residents of then-Soviet Azerbaijan. He recounted how Azerbaijanis who had lived alongside Armenians for generations suddenly turned violent against them, causing Armenian families like his to flee their homes for safety.” Rep. Sherman explained, “Recognizing the ethnic-cleansing of the Armenians from Azerbaijan is an important step. However, we need to do more–we need to demonstrate to Azerbaijan that the United States is committed to peace and to the protection of Artsakh from coercion. As the current government of Azerbaijan grows even more hostile towards Armenians, we must call for an end to all threats and acts of violence by Azerbaijan’s government against the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh. Congress should strengthen Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act by removing the President’s ability to waive U.S. law prohibiting aid to Azerbaijan because of its continuing blockade against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.”

Khoudabakhshiev was part of a delegation of survivors of anti-Armenian attacks in Baku, who travelled to Washington, DC last month to share their eye-witness accounts with legislators and speak out in support Artsakh independence. In addition to Congressional meetings, the delegation participated in the ANCA sponsored Capitol Hill program, titled: “Nagorno Karabakh – A Generation After Anti-Armenian Pogroms: The Challenge of Promoting Peace and Developing Democracy,” which featured powerful remarks by Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte, a lawyer, lecturer, and author of ‘Nowhere, A Story of Exile,’ and Dr. Alina Dorian, an internationally respected public health expert and advocate who has worked for decades to strengthen and expand public health programs in Nagorno Karabakh.

The full text of statements submitted for the Congressional Record commemorating the Sumgait, Baku and Kirovabad pogroms are provided below.

Senator Gary Peters (D-MI): Madam President, I wish to recognize the victims of the mass murder of Armenians 27 years ago during the state-sponsored pogroms in Sumgait, Azerbaijan.

The citizens of Nagorno Karabakh peacefully petitioned to be reunited with Soviet Armenia and spoke out against the arbitrary borders established by Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union. This democratic exercise of free speech expressing a natural desire for self-determination was met with 3 days of violence and brutality against Armenian civilians, who were hunted down in their homes. Security forces in Soviet Azerbaijan turned a blind eye, allowing the mass murder of Armenians in a futile attempt to defeat this movement. The massacres of Armenians did not stop in Sumgait but were followed in other Azerbaijani towns such as Kirovabad in November 1988 and the capital Baku in January 1990. The U.S. Congress strongly condemned these massacres at that time. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians fled Azerbaijan, many finding their home in my State of Michigan, where there is a monument to the victims of the Sumgait massacres.

True democracies must respect the rights of the minority, allow citizens to peacefully speak freely, and protect the human rights of all residents. The people of Nagorno Karabakh and the victims of this senseless massacre played a critical role in promoting a democracy movement which helped to end the Soviet Union.

Today, I remember the victims and ask my colleagues and the Americanpeople to join me in honoring their memories.

Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA): Mr. Speaker, Twenty-seven years ago, as the lines of the Soviet Union were fading, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh were united in a call for a say in their own futures and greater independence from Azerbaijan. This peaceful movement for self-determination and freedom was followed by premeditated and government-sponsored attacks.

Over the next two years, the Armenian population in the territory of Artsakh was repeatedly victim to brutal and racially motivated pogroms, darkly reminiscent of the days of the Armenian Genocide. Hundreds were murdered, thousands were displaced, and the Armenian community – both in Artsakh and in exile – continues to bear the scars from the brutal attacks in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku.

When the people of Nagorno-Karabakh officially declared independence on December 10, 1991, they were met with full-scale war lasting until 1994. Even today, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh are still forced to live under constant ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan.

As we commemorate the somber anniversary marking the struggle of the Nagorno-Karabakh people, we wish for the peaceful resolution of this conflict and hope that its citizens will be free to determine their own future.

Rep. Catherine Clark (D-MA): Mr. Speaker, February 27 marked the 27th anniversary of harrowing violence against the Armenian community in Sumgait, Azerbaijan.

I am proud to stand today with the Armenian-American community, including many of my constituents in Massachusetts, in remembrance and mourning of this unspeakable tragedy.

In February of 1988, anti-Armenian rallies through Azerbaijan gave way to waves of ethnically-motivated violence, death and destruction. In the aftermath of these terrible events, Azerbaijan’s Armenian community all but disappeared, with thousands displaced, culminating in a war against the people of Nagorno Karabakh.

That war resulted in almost 30,000 dead on both sides. Hundreds of thousands of refugees were forced to flee their homes. And to this day, those who lost their lives or were displaced by this violence still seek resolution and justice.

Many displaced Armenian families have sought refuge in America, and are now making vital contributions in the Fifth District of Massachusetts. Proudly, our diverse District is home to one of the largest Armenian communities in the nation. Together, our community is a thriving example of strength and perseverance in the face of extreme adversity.

Like the persecution of too many others before it, the lessons of the Sumgait Pogrom must not be forgotten.

We have a moral obligation to promote tolerance and justice, and we have a duty to recognize the atrocities that have kept us from our common goal.

Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA): Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the twenty-seventh anniversary of the pogroms against people of Armenian descent in Sumgait, Azerbaijan. My district is home to thousands of Armenian-Americans, many who are the sons and daughters of survivors. As they know well, Azerbaijani rioters started a murderous rampage in response to peaceful protests on February 27, 1988, that forever changed Armenia. During those three days, scores of Armenians were killed, hundreds were wounded, and thousands were forced to leave their homes and livelihoods behind.

As we recognize this tragedy, we should also take this time to commend the people of Nagorno Karabakh on being the first to demand their right to freedom and self-governance from the Soviet Union. Although a small nation, Nagorno Karabakh sparked the democracy movement that ended decades of dictatorial rule in the USSR and eventually led to the fall of the Soviet Union.

Sadly, the Azerbaijani government continues to act as an aggressor today. In November 2014, Azerbaijani armed forces shot down a Nagorno-Karabakh helicopter participating in a training exercise near the cease-fire line, killing the three crew members on board. This aggression is completely unacceptable and further hurts efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution.

Today, I ask my colleagues to stand with the proud people of Nagorno Karabakh in recognizing the anniversary of these tragic events. Let today serve as a reminder for each and every one of us to continue advocating for human rights and democratic freedoms around the world.

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ): Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the Sumgait pogroms–violent riots that resulted in the murder of hundreds of Armenians. This was perhaps one of the most gruesome atrocities in a series of hostile acts against the Armenian people. In 1988, Armenians living in the town of Sumgait in Azerbaijan were burned alive, thrown from windows and senselessly murdered by Azerbaijanis. Hundreds of people were killed, raped, and maimed simply because they were Armenians.

The police forces turned a blind eye towards the situation and allowed the crimes to continue for three days without intervention. Since then, Azerbaijan has sought to cover up these crimes and rewrite history.

As we prepare to observe 100 years since the Armenian Genocide, these more recent acts of violence against Armenians remind us that the work towards peace in the region continues.

Today, we recognize the anniversary of the Sumgait pogroms and to call attention to the work we have ahead of us. We have a shared responsibility to speak out when groups of people are targeted with oppression and violence just because of their ethnicity.
Along with my colleagues on the Congressional Armenian Issues Caucus, I continue my efforts to try and shed light on these events so that those lives lost are not forgotten. We will continue to promote mutual understanding and security through the Caucasus region.

It is my hope that we can all join together in condemning acts of violence in the past, and renew our commitment to vigilance in the future.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA): Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the pogrom against the Armenian residents of the town of Sumgait, Azerbaijan. On this day in 1988, and for three days following, Azerbaijani mobs assaulted and killed Armenians. When the violence finally subsided, hundreds of Armenian civilians had been brutally murdered and injured, women and young girls were raped, and some victims were tortured and burned to death. Those that survived the carnage fled their homes and businesses, leaving behind all but the clothes on their backs. The Sumgait Pogroms came in the wake of a pattern of anti-Armenian rallies throughout Azerbaijan, aided and encouraged by high ranking officials in the Azeri government, and touched off a wave of violence culminating in the 1990 Pogroms in Baku.

In a pattern all too familiar to the Armenian people, the Azerbaijani authorities made little effort to punish those responsible, instead attempting to cover up the atrocities in Sumgait to this day, as well as denying the role of senior government officials in instigating the violence.

The Sumgait massacres led to wider reprisals against Azerbaijan’s Armenian ethnic minority, resulting in the virtual disappearance of a once thriving population of 450,000 Armenians living in Azerbaijan, and culminating in the war launched against the people of Nagorno Karabakh. That war resulted in thousands dead on both sides and created over one million refugees in both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Time has not healed the wounds of those killed and hurt in the pogroms in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku. To the contrary, hatred of Armenians is celebrated in Azeri society, a situation most vividly exemplified by the case of Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani army captain who savagely murdered an Armenian army lieutenant, Gurgen Margaryan with an axe while he slept. The two were participating in a NATO Partnership for Peace exercise at the time in Hungary. In 2012, Safarov was sent home to Azerbaijan, purportedly to serve out the remainder of his sentence. Instead, he was pardoned, promoted, and paraded through the streets of Baku in a sickening welcome home. And as we speak, Azerbaijan continues its dangerous and provocative behavior along its border with Armenia and in Karabakh.

Mr. Speaker, this April we will mark the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, an event the Turkish government, Azerbaijan’s closest ally, goes to great lengths to deny. We must not let such crimes against humanity go unrecognized, whether they occurred yesterday or 27 years ago or 100 years ago. Today, let us pause to remember the victims of the atrocities of the Sumgait pogroms. Mr. Speaker, it is our moral obligation to condemn crimes of hatred and to remember the victims, in hope that history will not be repeated.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA): Mr. Speaker, earlier this month I met with a constituent, Marat Khoudabakhshiev, whose family barely survived pogroms perpetrated 27 years ago today against the Armenian residents of then-Soviet Azerbaijan. He recounted how Azerbaijanis who had lived alongside Armenians for generations suddenly turned violent against them, causing Armenian families like his to flee their homes for safety.

Over three days, February 26th to 28th, 1988, a pogrom was perpetrated against the Armenian residents of Sumgait in then-Soviet Azerbaijan. Armenians were attacked and killed in their apartments and on the streets. Although official figures reported 30 deaths, it is believed that hundreds were murdered and injured as a result of the pogrom.

The violence against the Armenians in Sumgait was prompted by a vote, which took place one week prior by the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh, to unify the region with Armenia–the beginning of the Karabakh movement. In the days immediately after this vote Azeri civilians and local officials in the city of Sumgait held rallies calling for “death to Armenians”.

On the night of February 27, 1988, Armenian residents in Sumgait were targeted and indiscriminately raped, mutilated and murdered. Calls for help from Armenians were ignored by local police and city officials. Journalists were shut out from the area. The violence raged on for three days before Soviet troops were able to put an end to the pogrom.

Witnesses of the horrific massacres later testified that the attacks were planned, as civilians had gathered weapons and the exits of the cities were blocked in advance to prevent Armenians from escaping. The homes of Armenians were marked so that the Azeri mobs could easily target them.

Unfortunately, the perpetrators of the pogrom succeeded in their ultimate goal–driving out Armenians. Fearing more violence, Armenian families fled Sumgait. Later that year, another anti-Armenian pogrom occurred in Kirovabad, Azerbaijan from November 21st to 27th, which also forced hundreds of Armenians to flee the region. In January of 1990 violent mobs targeted the Armenian community of Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.

This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the commemoration of the first genocide of the 20th century, the Armenian Genocide. It is imperative that we honor the memory of Armenians killed in the pogroms of Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku, as well as the Armenian Genocide. If we hope to stop future massacres, we must acknowledge these horrific events and ensure they do not happen again.

Recognizing the ethnic-cleansing of the Armenians from Azerbaijan is an important step. However, we need to do more–we need to demonstrate to Azerbaijan that the United States is committed to peace and to the protection of Artsakh from coercion. As the current government of Azerbaijan grows even more hostile towards Armenians, we must call for an end to all threats and acts of violence by Azerbaijan’s government against the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.

Congress should strengthen Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act by removing the President’s ability to waive U.S. law prohibiting aid to Azerbaijan because of its continuing blockade against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. In 1992, Congress prohibited aid to Azerbaijan because of its continuing blockade against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. However, in 2001, Congress approved a waiver to this provision, and administrations have used the waiver since then to provide aid to Baku. Azerbaijan should not be provided aid from the United States as long as they continue a policy of threats and blockades against Artsakh.

I urge the Administration to remove all barriers to broad-based U.S.-Nagorno Karabakh governmental and civil society communication, travel and cooperation.

Source: Asbarez

Congresswoman Chu Condemning Baku, Sumgait, Girovabad Massacres, Anti-Armenian Pogroms

February 27, 2015 By administrator

Rep. Judy Chu delivers remarks on Armenian Pogroms

Offers Powerful Remarks on the House Floor Condemning Baku, Sumgait, Girovabad Massacres, Defending Artsakh’s Right to Freedom

WASHINGTON—Representative Judy Chu (D-Calif.) took to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives today to commemorate the Sumgait, Baku, and Girovabad massacres, condemn ongoing Azerbaijani aggression, and call for freedom for the people of Nagorno Karabakh, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

“The ANCA welcomes Congresswoman Chu’s powerful moral stand in remembrance of those lost to anti-Armenian massacres in Azerbaijan, profoundly values her efforts to educate her colleagues about Baku’s ongoing aggression, and deeply appreciates her defense of freedom for Nagorno Karabakh,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA.

The full text of Congresswoman’s Chu’s February 26, 2015 speech is provided below:

“Twenty-seven years ago, as the lines of the Soviet Union were fading, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh were united in a call for a say in their own futures and greater independence from Azerbaijan. This peaceful movement for self-determination and freedom was followed by premeditated and government-sponsored attacks.

“Over the next two years, the Armenian population in the territory of Artsakh was repeatedly victim to brutal and racially motivated pogroms, darkly reminiscent of the days of the Armenian Genocide. Hundreds were murdered, thousands were displaced, and the Armenian community – both in Artsakh and in exile – continues to bear the scars from the brutal attacks in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku.

“When the people of Nagorno-Karabakh officially declared independence on December 10, 1991, they were met with full-scale war lasting until 1994. Even today, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh are still forced to live under constant ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan.

“As we commemorate the somber anniversary marking the struggle of the Nagorno-Karabakh people, we wish for the peaceful resolution of this conflict and hope that its citizens will be free to determine their own future.”

Armenian pogroms in Baku: The New York Times – Indifference and silence can cause another genocide

January 17, 2015 By administrator

It is signed by more than 130 human rights activists, public figures and scientists from different countries of Europe and America

The New York Times, July 27, 1990.
blishing the series of evidences of the eyewitness, statements of political and public figures about the Armenian pogroms held in Baku on 13-20 January 1990. The articles are posted on the website of KarabakhRecords.info
Indifference and silence can cause another genocide…

An open letter to international public opinion on anti-Armenia pogroms in the Soviet Union

It is signed by more than 130 human rights activists, public figures and scientists from different countries of Europe and America

The New York Times, July 27, 1990.

An era which we all thought ended, the era of pogroms, has resurfaced. Once again this year, the Armenian community of Azerbaijan has been the victim of atrocious and intolerable premeditated massacres.

As scholars, writers, scientists, political leaders and artists we wish, first of all, to express our profound indignation over such barbaric acts, which we wanted to believe belonged to humanity’s past. We intend this statement as more than an after-the-fact condemnation. We want to alert international public opinion to the continuing danger that racism represents to the future of humanity. It forebodes ill that we are experiencing the same powerlessness when faced with such flagrant violations of human rights a half century after the genocide of the Jewish people in Nazi concentration camps and forty years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It would be inexcusable if, because of our silence now, we contributed to the suffering of new victims.

The situation of Armenians in the Caucasus is, in fact, too serious for us to remain silent. There are moments when we must assume the moral obligation to assist a people in peril. Our sense of obligation leads us today to appeal to the international community and to public opinion.

More than two years ago, active persecution against Armenians began in Azerbaijan. The pogroms of Sumgait in February 1988 were followed by massacres in Kirovabad and Baku in November 1988. As recently as January 1990, the pogroms continued in Baku and other parts of Azerbaijan. The mere fact that these pogroms were repeated and the fact that they followed the same pattern, leads us to think that these tragic events are no accidents or spontaneous outbursts.

Rather we are compelled to recognize that the crimes against the Armenian minority have become consistent practice – if not consistent policy – in Soviet Azerbaijan. According, to the late Andrei Sakharov (New York Times, November 26, 1988), these pogroms constitute “a real threat of extermination” to the indigenous Armenian community in Azerbaijan and in the autonomous region of Mountainous Karabakh, whose inhabitants are 80 percent Armenian.

Horror has no limits, especially when we remember that the threat is against the Armenian people, who in 1915 paid dearly for their right to be different in the Ottoman Empire. There, Armenians lost half their population to genocide, the worst consequence of racism. Furthermore, if the recent pogroms have revived nightmares of extermination not yet overcome, the current total blockade of Armenia and Mountainous Karabakh and 85 percent of those into Armenia pass through Azerbaijan; it would not be an exaggeration to maintain that such a blockade amounts to the strangulation of Armenia. In a land devastated by the earthquake of December 7, 1988, the blockade has paralyzed the economy and dealt a mortal blow to the reconstruction efforts.

It is our sincere hope that perestroika will succeed. But we also hope for the success of glasnost and democratization. We recognize that the passage from a totalitarian state to a rule of law cannot be achieved overnight. It is nonetheless necessary that in the process of transition, the government of the Soviet Union promote legalize and institutionalize such critical forces for democracy as human rights, the principle of toleration, and democratic movements. There is no better defense and demonstration of democracy. At any rate, that is the only way to avoid the worst. In the case of the multinational state, the, worst may mean threats to the right of a people or a minority to exist. It is during periods of transition and uncertainty that rights of peoples – today Armenians, tomorrow another people or minority – are threatened or denied. In this respect, the ease with which we see today the development in the USSR of racist movements, especially the anti-Semitic movement known as Paymat, is for us cause for grave concern.

In the name of our duty of vigilance, we demand that Soviet authorities as well as the international community condemn univocally these anti-Armenian pogroms and that they denounce especially the racist ideology which has been used by the perpetrators of these crimes as justification.

We ask from the Soviet authorities and the international community that all necessary measures be taken immediately to ensure the protection and security of Armenians in the Caucasus and other parts of the Soviet Union. This can begin by bringing about a definitive lifting of the Azerbaijani blockade. It should be clear that the forceful deportation of Armenians is not the solution to the problem of Mountainous Karabakh which, in essence, is a problem of human rights.

The international community of states under the rule of law must prove the authenticity of its commitment to human rights in order to ensure that, due to indifference and silence bordering on complicity, another genocide does not occur.

It is signed by more than 130 human rights activists, public figures and scientists from different countries of Europe and America

The New York Times, July 27, 1990.

Azerbaijan, RFE/RL’s Baku Bureau Raided by Prosecutor’s Office

December 26, 2014 By administrator

RFE/RL’s Baku Bureau has been raided by members of the Azerbaijani Prosecutor’s Office, who have ordered employees to leave the building and for work to be terminated.

Kenan Aliyev, the director of RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service, says at least 10 members of the Prosecutor’s Office entered the office at 10:30 a.m. local time accompanied by armed police officers.

Prosecutors said they had a court order authorizing a search of the bureau in connection with an ongoing investigation of RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service as a foreign-funded entity.

They have reportedly demanded access to a safe holding bureau documents and personnel files, and have threatened to confiscate all computers.

They have also ordered staff members to leave the premises after holding them in a room for several hours without telephone or computer access.

Only the bureau chief, two employees, and a lawyer currently remain inside with prosecutors.

Prosecutors said the bureau’s work was to be terminated, but did not specify for how long.

Azerbaijani prosecutors have staged similar raids in recent months on other so-called foreign entities, including nongovernmental organizations such as IREX, the National Democratic Institute, and Oxfam.

All three NGOs were subsequently shut down. IREX, which operates in 125 countries promoting democratic reforms, became the latest to close down operations in September after Azerbaijani authorities froze its bank assets as part of what it called a “criminal investigation.”

The RFE/RL bureau raid comes three weeks after Khadija Ismayilova, an investigative journalist and contributor to RFE/RL, was jailed in Baku on charges related to her work.

Ismayilova is currently being held on two months’ pretrial detention on criminal charges of inciting a former RFE/RL contributor to attempt suicide.

Ismayilova’s supporters have rejected the charges as politically motivated. Amnesty International has declared Ismayilova a prisoner of conscience, “detained solely for exercising her right to freedom of expression.”

On December 17, the Baku prosecutor’s office delivered a letter to RFE/RL’s Baku bureau, requesting employment and salary information about both Ismayilova and the colleague in questions.

It also requested the names of all bureau employees, including freelancers, for possible questioning in connection with the case.

Kenan Aliyev said the December 26 raid is part of an ongoing harassment campaign aimed at shutting down the bureau, which is one of the last remaining sources of independent news in the autocratic country:

“The operation of our bureau is paralyzed in Baku,” he said. “There has been a long ongoing crackdown on the media and NGO’s in Azerbaijan including the arrest of Khadija Ismayilova, the host of our show and our contributor. We view this as part of this ongoing campaign against independent media.”

Earlier in December, Ramiz Mehdiyev, the chief of staff of Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, issued a 60-page statement accusing Ismayilova of displaying a “destructive attitude toward well-known members of the Azerbaijani community” and accusing RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service of working “for a foreign secret service.”

Mehdiyev has also praised the recent jailing of other Azerbaijani journalists and activists, including Leyla Yunus, the director of the of the Institute of Peace of Democracy and a vocal critic of Aliyev’s human rights record.

Yunus, 59, and her husband, Arif, have both been held in pretrial detention since July and August, respectively, on charges of treason and other crimes.

Leyla Yunus, who suffers from diabetes and kidney disease, has complained of physical abuse and denial of medical treatment while in detention. Her lawyers say she is in dangerously ill heath.

The West has criticized what is seen as a growing crackdown on government critics in energy-rich Azerbaijan.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Tom Malinowski told RFE/RL last week that Washington has been involved in “very serious discussions” with Azerbaijani officials about the recent detentions of the Yunuses, Ismayilova, and others.

Malinowski said U.S. officials have made clear that Azerbaijan’s relationship with the United States is “jeopardized by the crackdown on civil society.”

The Turkish newspaper Sabah Site presents the Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state … angering Baku

December 5, 2014 By administrator

Advertising in Turkey by the newspaper close to the Turkish government Sabah where Karabakh was presented as an independent state caused hysteria in Baku. According to the Turkish website Haber3 Sabah newspaper in an article titled “3 capitals, 11 official nappies and 5 national anthems” presented the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh as an independent state. The publication has raised a vast movement of indignation in Azerbaijan. As usual … The news media and public organizations to political personalities, critics against Sabah fuse in Baku. Writing Sabah however reason to disagree with the site where the article appeared Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state.

Krikor Amirzayan