On April 8, 2013 LA City Hall hosted an event featuring Anna AstvatsaturianTurcotte, lawyer and author of a book entitled, “Nowhere, A Story of Exile” based on her own diary entries as a young girl documenting the organized terror in Baku. Below is an article Anna wrote in which she reflects on the tragic events of her childhood and projects them on the current status of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

AnnaandNorik
Anna and her father Norik in Baku

Twenty five years ago the events that would later be named “The Sumgait Pogroms” took place in my home country, then Soviet Azerbaijan. These pogroms targeted the Armenian population of the town of Sumgait on 27 February of 1988. Violent rioting mobs of ethnic Azeris stormed the streets and broke into homes of ethnic Armenians of that peaceful city. They attacked and killed Armenians both on the streets and in their homes, while the police observed and let the events unfold and medical personnel refused to assist the victims. This was the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union. The events were triggered by a movement of liberation in the ancestral Armenian land of Nagorno-Karabakh. In 1920s this historic Armenian region was handed over to Azerbaijan by Joseph Stalin to instill constant tension in the region. In the beginning of 1988 Nagorno-Karabakh demanded to be reinstated back to Armenia, asserting self-determination by a referendum in accordance with the Soviet Constitution.

Annaand brother
Anna and her brother hiding at home in December 1988 during the Kirovabad massacres

 

View all of Anna Astavatsaturian’s article on the Wall Street Journal

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign Up for Our Newsletters

Get notified of the latest updates from MassisPost.

You May Also Like

MEPs Join European Union Monitoring Mission Patrol Touring Syunik Border Areas

GORIS — The delegation of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE)…

Armenia Denies Azerbaijani Media Reports About Transferring Su-30 Jets to Russia for Use Against Ukraine

YEREVAN — The Armenian Ministry of Defense has denied today a report…

Armenia’s Ambassador to Germany Vahan Hovannesian Passed Away After Long Illness

YEREVAN — Vahan Hovannesian, Armenia’s ambassador to Germany, passed away on December…

Turkey Summons Vatican Ambassador Over Pope’s Armenian Genocide Remarks

ANKARA — Turkey has summoned the Vatican’s ambassador in Ankara in protest…