"What happened in Sumgait was a result of Azerbaijani open anti-Armenian sentiment, which even today has not received proper political and legal assessment". President of the National Assembly

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan delivered a speech at the parliamentary hearings on the topic of "Sumgait massacres. Anti-Armenian sentiment as a state policy of Azerbaijan". "The wave of violence that began in Sumgait also continued in other districts of Azerbaijan. This policy of hatred and anti-Armenianism has become an inseparable part of the internal and external policy of the Azerbaijani leadership upon which the nation’s self-consciousness is built. In 30 years the policy of Azerbaijani authorities has not changed. We witnessed it in 2013 when Safarov, convicted for axe-murdering of an Armenian army officer Gurgen Markarian, was released and became a hero after his return to Azerbaijan. During the war of April 2016, the world once again witnessed the mundane manifestations of hatred towards Armenians. Once again, Azerbaijan proved that the rules of the civilized world and international humanitarian norms have no value in this country." Kocharyan said that, in defiance of calls from the international community and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to prepare societies for peace, Azerbaijan continues its military policy.

"Being faithful to the ideas of the Karabakh Movement, combined with national issues, we will work purposefully in the country and on international platforms to impose peace on them, by reaching international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh and ensuring peace for the local Armenians," the deputy foreign minister concluded.

NA Speaker Ara Babloyan also gave a speech during the hearings. He noted that as a result of State-organized crime hundreds of Armenians were brutally murdered or wounded; many people were forcibly deported and deprived of their property.

"What happened in Sumgait was a result of Azerbaijani open anti-Armenian sentiment, which even today has not received proper political and legal assessment by the international community", the official said.