TRUTHFUL EVALUATION OF EVENTS

Azg/arm
01 March 05

The pogroms of Sumgait and the so-called “Khojalu tragedy” both fall
on the end of February. Those two events differ though not only with
their dates but also with political assessment each gets.

Sumgait was the first genocide perpetrated in the Soviet period
against the Armenians and again with the hands of the Turks. But
can we really call the Sumgait events a genocide? Component of the
tragedy allow to speak of genocidal character of the events. Having
rebuffed honest accusations, Azerbaijan assails back claiming that
the events in Khojalu were also a genocide. These two events are
incomparable. The Armenians of Sumgait were a national minority within
Azerbaijan together with other minorities. More importantly, there
was no wide-range confrontation between the two peoples in February
of 1988. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan that slaughtered its Armenian citizens
and forced them out of the country was still a unit of the soviet
empire. Khojalu case is different as the village was a vantage point
for Azerbaijanâ~@~Ys heavy artillery to rocket surrounding Armenian
settlements. Itâ~@~Ys obviously illogical to compare the elimination
of such a bridgehead with genocide.

If the Sumgait tragedy were rightly assessed in its due time,
Azerbaijan would not certainly knock the doors of international
organizations attempting to find associates in equating Khojalu to
Sumgait. The Sumgait tragedy enters the wider context of Karabakh
conflict, it is one of its dark pages and it seems impossible to
find an impartial solution to the conflict leaving out the fact of
genocide in this Azeri town.

One more moment in this regard: if we accept that genocide is a kind
of state terror committed against another nationâ~@~Ys representatives
of the country, then, following Azerisâ~@~Y logic, the fact of Nagorno
Karabakh Republicâ~@~Ys existence should also be recognized. Otherwise,
what should be the perception of genocide in a state formation which
is responsible for “Khojalu tragedy”? And if Azerbaijan wants to label
the Khojalu events of February 26 of 1992 as genocide, though without
any ground, then such approach can be defined as indirect recognition
of Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

Regardless Azerbaijanâ~@~Ys foul play, each tragic event, be it Sumgait
or Khojalu, should receive truthful assessment. The Khojalu events
used to be called tragedy till lately by Azeris themselves (“Khojalu
fajiyasi” â~@~S Khojalu tragedy, was their own wording). Itâ~@~Ys
impossible to turn a tragedy into genocide by a single stroke of pen
years later.

By Kim Gabrielian in Stepanakert

–Boundary_(ID_nIs30thnaRkCYV1dJWzM+Q)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress