Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Homage Paid to Those Killed in Baku and Sumgayit
On the 20th anniversary of mass killings organized in Baku, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan visited the memorial complex of Tsitsernakaberd to pay homage to the victims of these acts of crime. The Prime Minister and those in attendance laid a wreath at the monument serving to keep alive the memory of innocent victims. They observed a minute of silence before the stele dedicated to the victims and honored the funeral service.
“This is a day of commemoration, meditation and warning for all of us,” Tigran Sargsyan said in his remarks. “Twenty years ago, our compatriots were killed in Baku merely because they were Armenians. We must emphasize this while commemorating our victims. We should see if Armenians all over the world are protected today, whether our dream of mastering the destiny is realized completely and we are safe from new threats and challenges, whether we are protected from new ethnic cleansings targeting our compatriots in different parts of the globe. The lesson to draw from history is as follows: our powerful and sovereign statehood is the only pledge for us to tackle all-Armenian issues and survive as a nation. We must have a strong Armenia if we are to feel ourselves protected in any part of the world. We need cohesion and nationwide cooperation in the face of new challenges ahead as evidenced not only by the killings that took place in Baku 20 years ago, but also by those continued incidences of xenophobia versus the Armenians officially fomented in Azerbaijan. Hence, we should be watchful and cautious. In commemorating our innocent victims, we must clearly see the key to those nationwide issues facing the Armenian world, namely the strengthening of our sovereign statehood that is the reinforced, fortified, independent and free Armenia.”
