Sumgait Pogrom

Sumgait Pogrom

The Sumgait pogrom (Armenian: Սումգայիթի ջարդեր, Sumgayit'i ĵarder lit.: "Sumgait massacres"; Azerbaijani: Sumqayıt hadisələri lit.: "Sumgait events") was a provocative massacre committed by Armenians against Azerbaijan population of the seaside town of Sumgait, Azerbaijan in late February 1988, during the early stages of the Karabakh movement.

Causes and organizers

The events in Sumgait were organized by Armenians. Provocative groups consisting of Armenians, who were placed among the population of Sumgait and knew the Azerbaijani language, played a special role in this incident [3]. Mass rallies began in Yerevan on February 19, 1988. Protesters chanted slogans such as "Armenia must be cleansed of Turks!” , "Armenia is only for Armenians!" On the third day of the rallies, the only surviving mosque in Yerevan (there were eight mosques in the city at the beginning of the 20th century) and the equipment of the Azerbaijani secondary school, the Yerevan State Azerbaijan Dramatic Theatre named after Jafar Jabbarly were set on fire along with the houses of Azerbaijanis protesting against these events in Yerevan. Meanwhile, Sumgait Pogrom was still being prepared. The most active executor of the "Sumgait massacres" provocation was an Armenian named Eduard Robertovich Grigoryan, born in 1959(six of the 26 Armenians were killed by him). 10 days before the incident, Armenians took their deposits from all banks in Sumgait. For videotaping the massacres, Armenian cameramen chose a secret location for the planned events. Two days after videotaping these tapes were mounted and travelled around the world. They erected a monument in Khankendi to "perpetuate" the memory of the "victims of Sumgait" - these and several other facts show their aim to provoke the Armenians, as well as the world community against the Azerbaijani people, to create a "savage" image. The names of Armenian active organizers of the“Sumgait pogrom”- Ohanyan, Samoilov, and Pavlovsky were kept secret from the press for a long time. On the night of February 27–28, 1988, 32 people were killed as a consequence of the riots in Sumgait. 26 of them were Armenians and 6 were Azerbaijanis. These events were also part of the scenario organized and implemented by the USSR Committee for State Security together with the Armenians themselves [5]. The person chosen to organize this event in Sumgait was also Armenian - Eduard Grigoryan, who had been convicted twice. Although Ahmad Ahmadov, an Azerbaijani, was shot as the organizer of the events in Sumgait, the testimony of witnesses proves that the real culprit was Eduard Grigoryan of Armenian origin [6]. There are a lot of news on press about hundreds of Azerbaijani families, who risked their lives during the “Sumgait tragedy” to save their Armenian neighbors from the angry mob. Later Levon Hakobi Ter-Petrosyan (the first President of Armenia ) said in one of his interviews: "After the events in Sumgait, the Azerbaijani people were in a state of shock. If the country's leadership had used this opportunity to decide on the annexation of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, the Azerbaijani people would not have been able to protest." These words clearly prove that the Sumgait tragedy was necessary for the Armenians to carry out their separatist actions [4]. Paruyr Hayrikyan (one of the prominent Armenian politicians) also admitted:

"The events in Sumgait were organized by Moscow." 

The chairman of the USSR KGB, N. Kryuchkov also acknowledged that these events were committed by Moscow. The city of Sumgait, located 30 km from Baku, was not chosen by chance. On that eve, more than 41,000 Azerbaijani Turks, who forcibly expelled from Armenia settled in Sumgait and were outraged by the atrocities committed by the Armenians against them. Even in Soviet times, the local population of the so-called "dead zone" tended to take radical steps due to poverty and misery. Therefore, it was possible to cause large-scale riots here. As a result of the riots that lasted for a day, Armenian houses were destroyed, dozens of people were injured, 32 people, including 26 Armenians, five Azerbaijani Turks and one Lezgin were killed. It is also known that almost all of the killed Armenians refused to transfer money to Armenian terrorist funds. The victim, L.Meclumyan, a resident in Sumgait, said, "Grigoryan entered my apartment and hit my sick mother with the legs of a chair broken by himself. I tried to resist several times, but as a woman, I couldn’t, he knocked me to the ground and began to do what he wanted." A young man named Najafov, who took part in the incidents, told the investigation: "A group organized by Grigoryan broke into the house (no. 512) of an Armenian woman named Emma, immediately stripped her naked and Edik Grigoryan offered to take her outside, then Emma was brutally killed in Grigoryan’s presence by his men." In another part of the investigation materials, it is stated that “E.Grigoryan and his gang entered the apartment of M. Petrosyan in the first micro district, hit the owner of the apartment, who wanted to resist, on the head and weakened him.” E. Grigoryan himself killed 5 Armenians and raped 8 Armenian women during the Sumgait events. There are many such facts. Armenian organizations were able to save E.Grigoryan, who committed such crimes, from severe punishment. The court sentenced the Azerbaijani Ahmad Ahmadov to death and the sentence was carried out immediately, while E.Grigoryan was sentenced only for 12 years and was released a few years later. These events reaffirmed the famous saying: The best Armenian for them is a dead Armenian. Armenians always skillfully used their dead or killed compatriots. Armenians aimed to take advantage of the events in Sumgait for their insidious intentions. Therefore, they immediately began to form misconceptions about these events, to create worldwide anti-Azerbaijani discrimination. On the other hand, Armenian organizations tried to make the confrontation between Azerbaijan and Armenia irreversible, to aggravate relations, to undermine the prospects for a peaceful settlement. Armenians continued with their bloody terrorist acts. The demand from public prosecutor Aslan Ismayilov for a life sentence for Grigoryan was rejected. Prejudice against Azerbaijanis had occurred during the trials in Sumgait. In addition to that, the public prosecutor's proposal to change the measures on the imprisonment of Najaf Najafaliyev, who was ill and innocent in the incidents, was not accepted and he died in the course of the process. Another defendant, Ahmad Ahmadov was sentenced to be executed by shooting in a Moscow court. To prove that Ahmadov was the main organizer of the events, investigators obtained a statement from Ahmadov, who was originally wearing a grey suit on that occasion, that he was allegedly in a black suit with bloodstains on it, and this was presented in court as evidence. Sumgait residents have long believed that Ahmad Ahmadov was not a criminal. The memorial fountain built in the yard where he lived shows that people have already acquitted Ahmadov. These groups, protected by the USSR KGB, committed massacres in various parts of the city. It was these groups that murdered 26 people of Armenian descent. Army units led by General Krayev, who had entered the city, intervened on February 29 after watching from the sidelines for a while. As a result, 6 Azerbaijanis were killed under the caterpillars of tanks, 400 people were injured, 200 apartments were looted, 50 cultural facilities were destroyed, more than 40 cars were rendered useless. A curfew was imposed in Sumgait on March 1. The then leadership of Azerbaijan not only kept silent but also made an unfair decision, as the investigation team investigating the causes of the Sumgait events worked in favour of the Armenians. An investigation team consisting of representatives of the former USSR Prosecutor's Office and the KGB investigating the cause of the incidents covered up the truth by blaming the Azerbaijanis as a whole. Unfortunately, instead of protesting against the injustice, the representatives of the Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies included in the investigation group took part in the trial of innocent people. As a result, about 3,000 innocent Sumgait residents were imprisoned. 400 of them were held accountable, most of them got rid of it by paying bribes and a criminal case was opened against 94 people.

During the investigation, Elchin Gulaliyev, a Group II disabled defendant living on insulin, was mysteriously killed in Bayil prison. His innocence was revealed during the trials. An intellectual, Taleh Ismayilov, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and sent to Tbilisi to serve his sentence as a “political prisoner”, however his corpse was returned a year later. Azer Babayev, a minor who was attacked by the Red Army, has been disabled for 23 years. After the events, Mikhail Gorbachev described the rioting that had occurred as that perpetrated by hooligans. He stated that “The events in Sumgait were the result of hooliganism by a group of people.” His attitude towards the incident resulted in the cover-up of the crime. The Soviet government was initially hesitant to admit that violence had taken place; however, when it did, it was quick to downplay the scale of the event. The operation under the code name “Nalyotchik”

Eyruz Mammadov, one of the main investigators of the “Sumgait events”, identified that the provocateurs in Sumgait were the USSR State Security Committee, Armenian intelligence agencies and extremist groups of the Dashnak party. An interesting fact is that a few days before the events in Sumgait, 36 employees of the USSR KGB arrived from Moscow. According to the local news agency, extremist groups of Armenian descent have entered the city to cause unrest in Sumgait. When representatives from Moscow were informed about this, they forbade local authorities to interfere in the events. Armenian special services, together with the USSR State Security Committee planned to carry out a provocation in Sumgait under the code name “Nalyotchik” (in English: “Invader”).

  After the events, Mikhail Gorbachev stated: 

The events in Sumgait took place as a result of hooliganism by a group of people. These were the members of the “Nalyotchik” group: 1. Grigoryan Albert Robertovich - Eduard Grigoryan's brother, distributed drugs to minors and called on them to attack Armenian families. 2. Grigoryan Tigran Robertovich - Eduard Grigoryan's brother, distributed drugs to young people and engaged in robbery. 3. Grigoryan Ernest Robertovich - Eduard Grigoryan's brother, provided young children with alcohol before the riots. 4. Saturyan Levon Akopovich – an employee of the State Security Department of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. An active member of the Karabakh Committee. One of the organizers of the events on the national level. In Sumgait, he was in constant communication with Krunk activists and he was getting informed by them. 5. Sargsyan Suren Yuryevich – a member of the “Karabakh” committee. He called the youth to riot. According to the list of non-paying members of the Krunk society, young people were engaged in raids on their homes. Immediately after the events, he moved to Tashkent. 6. Valerian Markaryan - a resident of Baku, a driver. He hit 4 Azerbaijanis in Sumgait with a bus, killing them as a result, and afterwards left Baku. 7. Mosesov Eduard Nikolayevich – a correspondent of the “Communist” newspaper (in Armenian). He was engaged in video recording of the events in Sumgait. 8. Grigoryan Arthur – a correspondent of the “Communist” newspaper (in Armenian). He was engaged in taking photos and videos. 9. Agadlanyan Grigory – a correspondent of the “Communist” newspaper (in Armenian). He took videos and photos.

10. Grigoryan Benik Setrakovich - an active member of the Krunk society. A resident of Sumgait city, 9th micro district, house 25e, apartment number 5. After emptying Babayan's household items and living in apartment No.36 and 59, 9th micro district, Sumgait city, he set fire to both apartments and blamed Guliyev Fakhraddin Ahad oglu. 11. Petrosyan Victor Vartanovich - born in 1959, a resident of the 1st micro district, house 125/34, apartment No.28. He incited the youth to rally in Sumgait. 12. Petrosyan Vacik Vartanovich performed the same task as his brother Victor Vartanovich. 13. Grigoryan Engels Cerkesovich - an active member of the Krunk society. Born in 1958, he was a resident of the 3rd micro district, house 52, apartment No.45. Engels led a group of robbers during the riots in Sumgait. 14. Davidyan Anatoly Armaisovich – a member of the Karabakh Committee. Born in 1955, he was a resident of the 1st block, house 5a, apartment No.21. He was involved in gathering young people in the 3rd micro district of Sumgait. 15. Zakharyan Aram Aganesovich - born in 1959, a resident of 11 micro district, house 6, apartment No.25. He was engaged in robbery during the riots. 16. Maryan Zoya - an active member of the Krunk society. Born in 1948, a resident of 7-8-12, house 92a, apartment No. 6. She acted as a mediator between Armenians living in Sumgait.

17. Avakyan Sergey Gurgenovich – a resident of 41st block, house 4a, apartment No.62. He was actively sending young people to the 3rd micro district. 18. Ambartsumyan Rudik Viktorovich - born in 1958, a member of the “Karabakh”; 3committee, resident of apartment No. 41, house 27, 30 and engaged in robbery. 19. Melkumyan Edik Ambartsumovich – a resident of the 4th micro district, house 16/25, apartment No.26. He was engaged in spreading false rumours. He took part in numerous robberies. 20. Ambartsumyan Valery Mikhailovich - an active member of the Krunk society. Born in 1959, a resident of the 3rd micro district, house 8, apartment 3. He was a close ally of Eduard Grigoryan. 21. Ambartsumyan Djapolad Mikhailovich - born in 1967, resident of the 3rd micro district, house 8, apartment No.8. He was encouraging teenagers to come after him. He was involved in robbery and theft. 22. Altunyan Garik Isayevich - born in 1964, resident of the 9th micro district, house 6, apartment No.6. He was involved in robbery and theft. 23. Minasyan Albert - member of the "Karabakh" committee. Born in 1939, resident of the 6th micro district, house 35, apartment No.4. He informed his men(teenagers) beforehand about which apartments to attack 24. Tamrazyan Kamo Georgievich - born in 1961, resident of apartment 45, house 79, 73. He helped Eduard Grigoryan's brothers, distributed drugs and alcohol. 25. Grigoryan Artash Masesovich - resident of the 45th district, house 1/48, apartment 38. He was engaged in robbing commercial properties. 26. Arakelyan Valery Sokratovich - resident of the apartment number 76, 40, house 7-8-12. He was involved in the theft of household items. 27. Arakelyan Sergey Sokratovich - resident of the apartment number 76, 40, house 7-8-12. He directed the young people to engage in the riots. 28. Gevorkyan Mikhail Grigoryevich - was an active member of the society "Krunk". a resident of apartment No. 5, house 18, 45th district. He was engaged in theft. 29. Bomasyan Gogar - a resident of the 18th district, house 16, apartment 8. By screaming “Death to Armenians!" slogans and spreading rumors, he was calling the crowd to a rally. 30. Agababyan Zazyen Karlenovich - born in 1955, resident of the 3rd district, house 6, apartment 6. "Karabakh is ours!", "Death to Armenians!" he called the people to the rally. 31. Asatryan Slfvik Grigoryevich - a member of the society "Krunk". 10 micro district house 7, resident of apartment 46. He was an active member of the riots. 32. Pkhakadze Konstantin Mikhailovich - Abovyan, Armenia. He was one of the most active members of Nalyotcik. He was in contact with Stepanakert and Yerevan. He acted on the orders of the KGB from Moscow. After the events, he was sent to Central Asia. 33. Sargsyan Suren Yuryevich - member of the "Karabakh" committee. Born in 1956, Stepanakert, Pioneer Street, house 4. Collected information about the events. He was in contact with the Armenian special services. 34. Petrosyan and Pogosyan - came to Azerbaijan in 1988 after committing a crime in Moscow. They were looking for an all-union. The USSR KGB helped him to get to Sumgayit without any obstacles. He closely assisted Grigoryan during the riots.

All of these once again proves that Sumgait pogrom was premeditated and planned action by Armenian nationalists.[11] Death sentence

Main article: Əhməd Əhmədov (Sumqayıt hadisələri)

The trial of Ahmed Ahmadov, who was arrested in connection with the events in Sumgayit at that time, was illegally held in Moscow. With the participation of international media and the support of the Armenian nationalists including Silva Kaputikyan, Zori Balayan and their mercenaries a court was organized in Moscow, which resembled a real “show”. Natural human rights of accused Ahmad were violated. In that process, the case of two Azerbaijanis, who were arrested and accused along with Ahmad Ahmadov, was sent back for further interrogation as it was not proved in court. Ahmad Ahmadov, who was not convicted during the trial, was executed dead by firing squad. The causes of the incident, the conditions of the crime, the real organizers and killers were not identified by Investigation team. 93 arrested Azerbaijanis were sentenced to 15 years in prison. Ahmed Ahmadov, who was convicted as the organizer of the events, was sentenced to death by the SSCB Supreme Court on November 18, 1988. The execution was carried out 17 months later. Although hundreds of complaint letters were sent from Azerbaijan to the SSCB authorities after Ahmed Ahmadov was sentenced to be shot, none of them were answered. SSCB People's Deputy A. Mnikov's request to Mikhail Gorbachev to mitigate Ahmadov's case was ignored.

Bibliography: Books: Armenian provocation - Sumqait events; Armenian conspiracy - Sumgayit events. Baku: Nurlan, 2008. 96 pages.

Citizens of Sumgayit!  (Appeal of the head of the garrison, Lieutenant-General V. Krayev to the people of Sumgayit in connection with the emergency situation in the city on February 29, 1988) // G.Ahmadov.  Parties, Leaders, Currents.- Baku: "Politics" Publishing House.  1998.- p.  41.
Leladagh Mahmud Avaz.  Event in Sumgayit.  (On the events of February 27–29, 1988) // Laladagh Mahmud A.  I will never forget my days.  Baku: Tafakkur, 2002. p.  119–121.
Mammadov E. The night of 28–29.  (The book deals with the bloody events committed by Armenian nationalists in Sumgayit in February 1988 at the hands of their supporters living abroad).  Sumgayit: 1998. 144 pages.
Sadigov H., Mammadov.  Sumgayit: National slavery or national generosity?  (The book talks about the ugly deeds of nationalist Armenian ideologues, the tragic events committed in Sumgayit on February 27–29, 1988).  Sumgayit: 2004. 160 pages.
Sadigov H., Mammadov R. Traces of national slavery in the days of the February 1988 events.  // Sadigov H., Mammadov R. Sumgayit: National slavery or national generosity?  Sumgayit: 2004. p.  149–157.
Aslan Ismayilov.  Sumgayit - the beginning of the collapse of the USSR.  Baku: Çaşıoğlu.  2010. 204 pages.  ISBN 978-9952-27-259-8 Search this book on .
   

Periodical press 1. Aliyeva A. Sumgayit: failed "genocide" plan. (Armenians chose this city for provocation in February 1988) // "Azerbaijan" newspaper. February 28, 2009. p. 7.

2. Safiyev S. The events in Sumgayit were a premeditated provocation.  (February 1988) // "Respublika" newspaper.  February 28, 2009. p.  12.
3. Sadigov H., Mammadov R. Sumgayit events in the context of Armenian terrorism.  (February 1988).  // "Sumgayit" newspaper.  February 28, 2009. p.  4–5.
4. Mammadov R. Sumgayit events: February 27-29 - March 1, 1988 (impartial view from a historical distance of 21 years) // "Maslak" newspaper.  February 26, 2009. p.  1–3.

5.Mammadov E. The realities of Azerbaijan must be conveyed to the world community. (Sumgayit events were a provocative action jointly prepared by special services and Armenians) // "People's newspaper". March 14, 2008. p. 5 6.Najafkhanli A. Sumgayit events in books published in foreign languages: February 1988. // "People's newspaper". March 14, 2008. p. 5. 7.Muganli G. "Armenian conspiracy-Sumgayit events" (meeting dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Sumgayit events) // "Sumgayit" newspaper. March 1, 2008. p. 1. 8. Rahimov F. The events in Sumgayit were the next page of the Armenian provocation (February 1988). // "Azerbaijan" newspaper. February 29, 2008. p. 6. 9.Aliyev A. A city unprepared for events (about the events of Sumgayit in 1988) // "Azerbaijan" newspaper. February 29, 2008. p. 6. 10. Elmar X. The events in Sumgayit were committed by Armenians (February 1988) // "Maslak" newspaper. February 28, 2008. p. 5. 11.Babayev A. The events in Sumgayit were part of a premeditated plan devised by the Armenians (February 1988) // "Respublika" newspaper. February 28, 2008. p. 4. 12. Mammadov E. Who were the perpetrators? (Sumgayit events of February 28–29, 1988) // "Sumgayit" newspaper. February 23, 2008. p. 8. 13. Mammadov E. Sumgayit: a blow from behind (Twenty years ago, this young city of Azerbaijan was the target of enemy provocation) // "People's newspaper". February 23, 2008. p. 5; February 28. p. 5; February 29. p. 5. 14. Najafkhanli A. Sumgayit events (visible and invisible aspects of planned provocation: 1988, February) // "People's newspaper". February 16, 2008. p. 5. 15. Imanov I., Mammadov E. Who committed the events in Sumgayit: Armenians, Azerbaijanis or not? ... (Interview of the creative group of the film about the events in Sumgayit / Interviewed by: B. Safaroglu.) // "Ulfat". February 29, 1992.

References

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