08:22, 27 February 2019

Yerevan: townspeople's rally on anniversary of Sumgait pogroms ends in a march

The participants of the rally against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan made a march to the military cemetery in Yerevan.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 26, about two thousand people gathered in Yerevan for an action on the anniversary of Sumgait pogroms, demanding from the authorities not to admit any territorial concessions in settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Sumgait pogroms lasted from the evening of February 26 to February 29, 1988, and they were the first mass explosion of ethnic violence on the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The pogroms led to the first flows of refugees from Azerbaijan to Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, whereas the first refugees from Armenia had already arrived in Azerbaijan by that time. According to Armenian sources and eyewitnesses, several hundred people fell victim to the pogroms, and of them, about 100 people were killed.

The rally of opponents of territorial concessions ended in a march to the "Yerablur" military cemetery in Yerevan. At the entrance to the cemetery, the marchers read out an oath, stressing a vow to prevent the surrender of the territories for which blood was shed. They laid flowers and lit candles on the graves of the soldiers, who perished in the war against Azerbaijan, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has reported.

"We won't admit any treacherous agreement that contradicts our national interests," Arshak Zakaryan, one of the organizers, has stated at the end of the action.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 26, 2019 at 09:55 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Tigran Petrosyan

Source: CK correspondent