Baku pogroms
The Baku pogroms [1] refers to the pogroms against the Armenian population of the city during the Nagorno-Karabakh war.
Background
The Soviet forces deployment in Baku on January 19, 1991 not only failed to stem anti-Armenian attacks, but also raised serious doubts about whether the Soviets wished to stem that violence. [2] Around ninety Armenians died in the Baku pogroms. [3] It is hard to verify the death toll because yet more chaos was to descend on Baku within days.
There is evidence that both the 1988 Sumgait and the 1990 Baku pogroms were organized by groups including government officials. [4]
| “ | Waves of Armenian refugees, the majority of the 27,000 Armenians left in Baku after the 1988 pogroms, left the country.[5] | ” |
In Baku and Yerevan, refugees loaded de Waal with news and fond messages for beloved friends and neighbors they had been forced to leave behind. Many hundreds of Armenians owe their lives to Azerbaijanis who rescued or hid them and their families during the Baku pogroms of January 1990. [6]
One hundred and fifty Armenians were killed and 200,000 were forced to flee from the country, finding shelter in Armenia and other countries. [7]
Accounts
| “ | On January 13th, 1990 what was an unorganized activity, took shape and form. Azeris began organized pogroms in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan. The city was methodically cleared of all Armenians, house by house. This was the same brutality that Sumgait experienced. We felt it close at home. This is my grandfather’s account:
“I was getting ready to go out, I was already dressed. All of a sudden, there was loud banging on the door. People were screaming ‘Death to Armenians!’ I heard the door starting to crack. I grabbed the phone, ran in the living room and shut the door. I dialed the police, and it was busy. I dialed grandma’s friend, told her to call the police, and then they broke in. I was pushed on the floor, and they started to beat me. I tried to cover my face. When they took a break, the police arrived. The police told them to leave, and told me that it’s not safe for me to stay in the city being Armenian. They were going to escort me to a police station where they were rounding up Armenians. I already had my coat on, I broke Alex’s piggy bank, took whatever money was there, and left with the police. They escorted me to the police station and sealed off the apartment.”[8] |
” |
See also
References
- ↑ Democracy and Nationalism in Armenia, by Peter Rutland, p. 852
- ↑ Playing the "Communal Card": Communal Violence and Human Rights - Page 149 by Cynthia G. Brown, Farhad Karim
- ↑ Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War - Page 90 by Thomas De Waal
- ↑ Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War - Page 52 by Stuart J. Kaufman
- ↑ Michael Dobbs, "War Refugees Pour Into Armenia," Washington Post, January 18, 1990, p.1
- ↑ In the Black Garden by Neal Ascherson - NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS
- ↑ Victims of Armenian pogroms in Baku commemorated in Yerevan - Armenpress news agency
- ↑ My Life Story - Alex Mnatsakanov
External links
- Pogroms of Armenian Population in Multinational Baku
- Armenia marks 15th anniversary of Baku pogroms
- Memories of Karen Harutyunyan about the events of January 1990 in Baku
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