L.A. COUNCILMEMBER NITHYA RAMAN ISSUES STATEMENT ON ANNIVERSARY OF SUMGAIT, KIROVABAD, AND BAKU POGROMS

Councilmember Nithya Raman issued the following statement on the 36th anniversary of the violent Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku pogroms targeting Armenians:

 

Today marks the 36th Anniversary of the Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku pogroms. From 1988 to 1990, Azerbaijani nationals launched a violent series of massacres against their own Armenian residents and neighbors. These mobs targeted the homes of Armenians who were violently deprived of their property and expelled. Ultimately, over 250,000 Armenians were ethnically cleansed from Azerbaijan.

 

State-sponsored Armenophobia remains a policy for Azerbaijan today, culminating in the death of thousands of Armenian civilians and soldiers during the 2020 Artsakh War and the ethnic cleansing of over 120,000 indigenous Armenians during a nine-month long blockade and full-scale invasion of Artsakh.

 

Today, we stand with the Armenian community in condemning Azerbaijan’s ongoing aggression against Armenia. We call for the unconditional release of Azerbaijan’s Armenian POWs and hostages who have been held illegally long after the cessation of hostilities. We continue to urge the Biden Administration to do all that it can to hold Azerbaijan and the Aliyev regime accountable and provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the over 120,000 forcibly displaced Armenians of Artsakh.