Henry Sarkissian, Armenian philanthropist, noted international businessman, and the president of world-class Contractor in Industrial and Power Projects, has just made the largest donation this year to the Zoryan Institute amounting to $100,000, Armenian Reporter said.

Sarkissian, based in Beirut, Lebanon, with offices in several countries of the Gulf, Africa and North America, has been a long-time supporter of the Institute’s mission, which is to serve the cause of scholarship and public awareness relating to issues of universal human rights, genocide, and diaspora-homeland relations, through the systematic and continued efforts of independent scholars.

In response to a letter of gratitude from Zoryan’s president, Mr. Sarkissian simply replied, “The Zoryan Institute deserves our humble donation.” Over the years, he, along with his family, have sponsored conferences, publications, and other activities of the Institute held in Europe, Armenia and North America.

George Shirinian, Executive Director of the Zoryan Institute, remarked, “The Institute has just completed thirty years of service to the academic community and to our people. We look back with pride on the acknowledgement we have received from community and government leaders, scholars, students, and the thousands of supporters, large and small, who have encouraged us in our work. It is only with their help that Zoryan has been able to achieve as much as it has. We are excited as we look forward to what the next thirty years will bring!”

Prof. Roger W. Smith, the chairman of Zoryan’s Academic Board, declared, “We are grateful for the generosity of Mr. Sarkissian. This kind of “noble” donation not only brings enthusiasm to people at the Institute, but also reinforces the commitment of its directors, the staff and the volunteers to work even harder in conducting their academic work, including research, analysis and publication on issues related to the forces that shape modern Armenian life, politics, history and identity in a global context. We are hopeful that others will follow Mr. Sarkissian’s example.”

“Tragedy of Sumgait” in Spanish

The Sumgait Tragedy: Pogroms against Armenians in Soviet Azerbaijan: Eyewitness Accounts is as relevant today as when it was first published by the Zoryan Institute. A new Italian language edition, La Tragedia di Sumgait: 1988, Un Pogrom di armeni nell’Unione Sovietica has just been released. The edition was prepared by Pietro Kuciukian and published by Guerini e Associati of Milan and marks the ninth language in which Zoryan’s work has been published. This edition includes the prefaces both from the English edition by human rights activist Yelena Bonner, and the French edition by human rights activist, French politican, and co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières, Bernard Kouchner. The appearance of this book is very timely, exposing the origins of the current conflict, as Azerbaijan continues to use threatening and warmongering language against Armenia and Artsakh.

For three days in February, 1988, the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait became the arena of pogroms against the Armenians. The Sumgait tragedy was a brutal, organized attempt to block a political solution to the peaceful demands of the Armenians of Mountainous Karabagh, over 1000 km away from Sumgait, which is deeply within Azerbaijan proper. These events marked the beginning of a premeditated plan to depopulate Azerbaijan of Armenians, and eventually of Russians and Jews.

The book is a compilation of interviews conducted by Armenian journalist Samvel Shahmuratian with Sumgait survivors immediately after events in February 1988, while the memory was fresh. These testimonies give painful answers to critical questions. What happened in Sumgait? Why was the impending slaughter not averted? Why did measures to halt the massacres come too late? Why did the events not receive complete analysis and coverage by the mass media, the government, and judicial bodies? The answers to these questions come from the victims themselves, in halting painful narratives.

In 1988, the Nagorno-Karabagh Autonomous Oblast was a small, 4400 sq. km. (1699 sq. mi.) Soviet enclave with a population of approximately 153,000, of which 80% was Armenian. It is central to Armenian cultural and historical identity. Since its transfer by Stalin to Azerbaijan in 1921, the government of Azerbaijan pursued a policy of economic and social discrimination and political repression, making life intolerable for its citizens in a variety of ways. In the 1960s and 1970s, the government of Nagorno-Karabagh petitioned the central Soviet government several times for relief from these conditions, without success.

The advent of Mikhail Gorbachev and his policies of glasnost and perestroika encouraged the people of Nagorno-Karabagh to call for self-determination within the existing legal framework and within the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan. Starting in 1987, they signed petitions, held vigils, conducted hunger strikes, demonstrations, rallies and general strikes. Massive marches took place in Stepanakert and Yerevan. On February 26, 1988, Gorbachev tried to calm the situation by asking for a moratorium on the demonstrations for one month, after which he would announce a new policy regarding Nagorno-Karabagh. The Armenians agreed to suspend their protests.

A wave of anti-Armenian statements and rallies swept over Azerbaijan. This culminated in three days (February 27-29) of unhindered mass pogroms against the Armenians living in Sumgait, a city of some 250,000 inhabitants, miles away from Nagorno-Karabagh.

The perpetrators who broke into Armenian homes were aided by prepared lists containing the names of residents. They were armed with iron rods, stones, axes, knives, bottles, and canisters full of benzene. According to witnesses, some apartments were raided by groups of 50 to 80 persons. Similar crowds, up to 100 people, stormed the streets.

There were dozens of casualties and 53 murders – most of those were burnt alive after being assaulted and tortured. Hundreds of innocent people were wounded and disabled. Many women, including adolescent girls, were raped. Over 200 apartments were raided, dozens of cars burnt, numerous shops and workshops looted. Mobs hurled furniture, refrigerators, TV sets, and beds from balconies and then burnt them. The direct and indirect results of these atrocities were tens of thousands of Armenian refugees.

The army arrived in Sumgait on February 29; however, it limited its activities to shielding itself against the ravaging Azerbaijani mob that threw stones at the soldiers and did little to protect Armenians.

As the true story behind Armenian-Azerbaijani relations has become obscured by propaganda, oil lobbyists, and economic interests, this volume serves as a valuable document for Italian readers when considering a resolution to the ongoing Karabagh conflict.

This new edition provides an abridged version of the interviews, making it an excellent introductory text for Italian readers interested in learning more about the Sumgait tragedy. This new version also arranges the interviews into thematic chapters, making them easy to navigate and providing those who are new to the subject with more context.

The Zoryan Institute is the parent organization of the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, which runs an annual, accredited university program on the subject and is co-publisher of Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal in partnership with the International Association of Genocide Scholars and the University of Toronto Press. It is the first non-profit, international center devoted to the research and documentation of contemporary issues with a focus on Genocide, Diaspora and Armenia.