President Vahagn Khachaturyan’s message on the 35th anniversary of the tragedy in Sumgait

Dear compatriots,

Today we commemorate the victims of the massacre of Armenians in Sumgait, in 1998. The sanguinity that took place 35 years ago clearly demonstrated the policy of the Azerbaijani authorities, the aim of which was to forcefully displace and dispossess the Armenians living and creating in their own homeland.

It was the impunity of the Sumgait tragedy that shortly after led to the unleashing of such barbarities in Baku, Gandzak and elsewhere, and, in fact, the Azerbaijani authorities tried to execute their policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh as well, rising the just protest and resistance of our compatriots.

Our compatriots in Artsakh stood to defend their inalienable rights to live in their thousand-year Motherland in peace and safety. Unfortunately, 35 years after the tragedy in Sumgait, the Armenians in Artsakh are once again at the crossroads of defending their right to live in their home, in their Motherland.

Dear compatriots,

Armenian Diaspora,

For centuries on end, our people have tasted the joy of victory and the bitterness of losses, but we never strived for war, we tried to live and create with our passion and constructive effort, in our homes, in our Motherland, understanding perfectly well the price of war and peace, and knowing that there are no winners in the catastrophe of wars.

Today, bowing to the memory of the innocent victims of the tragedy in Sumgayit, we should, more than ever, demonstrate our invincible will to protect the inviolable rights of our compatriots of Artsakh to live peacefully and prosperously in their ancient homeland, we should unite our potential and courage for the sake of our citizens, for the sake of a safe and peaceful future for our generations.

I wish peace to our people, strong will and welfare to our compatriots in Artsakh.