Political Quotes

“I wish to recognize the victims of the mass murder of Armenians 27 years ago during the state-sponsored pogroms in Sumgait, Azerbaijan. The citizens of Nagorno Karabakh peacefully petitioned to be reunited with Soviet Armenia and spoke out against the arbitrary borders established by Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union. This democratic exercise of free speech expressing a natural desire for self- determination was met with 3 days of violence and brutality against Armenian civilians, who were hunted down in their homes. Security forces in Soviet Azerbaijan turned a blind eye, allowing the mass murder of Armenians in a futile attempt to defeat this movement. The massacres of Armenians did not stop in Sumgait but were followed in other Azerbaijani towns such as Kirovabad in November 1988 and the capital Baku in January 1990. The U.S. Congress strongly condemned these massacres at that time. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians fled Azerbaijan, many finding their home in my State of Michigan, where there is a monument to the victims of the Sumgait massacres. True democracies must respect the rights of the minority, allow citizens to peacefully speak freely, and protect the human rights of all residents. The people of Nagorno Karabakh and the victims of this senseless massacre played a critical role in promoting a democracy movement which helped to end the Soviet Union.…”