Pogroms in Azerbaijan and Armenia of 1988-89 As Historical Echo of the 1915 Armenian Genocide

Many Armenians made a direct analogy between events in Azerbaijan and

1915 in Turkey. Armenians living in Baku and Sumgait were assimilated with the native population. Intermarriages were popular and well accepted by people. Most Armenians living in Azerbaijan sent their children to Russian schools, and therefore, the primarily spoken language was Russian even at homes. Hence, the history of Armenia was more known from books and family memories rather than through official teaching. Therefore, how can be explained hasty leaving by 350 000 Armenians their homes, possessions and lifetime memories except that they feared the old scenario to be played again. The pogroms left houses in Armenian quarters of Baku ravaged, however, the massacres of 31 people in Sumgait and 160 in Baku (according to official records, though the number might be underestimated) is a relatively small number. Hence, the explanation for such massive reaction of Armenians can be found in a historical memory that led to conviction that Armenians refused to be scapegoats again. There is a palpable parallel between sociopolitical status of Armenians in Azerbaijan and

Armenian in Turkey on the eve of slaughtering. In both cases Armenians were a prosperous element of the society they lived in, however, they were in minority, thus obviously suitable for any kind of persecution.

Ironically, but pogroms and killings in Sumgait and Baku as well as the compulsory migration of Armenians to Armenia and Russia might have prevented a second cycle of genocide against Armenian population.[24]

Some aspects in analogy between 1915 and 1988-90 don’t fit the large scaled picture, compiled of both tragic periods of the Armenian history.However, some parallels are obvious. For example, deprivation of basic essentials and lack of even first necessities present during the blockade against the Republic of Armenia and while deportation of Armenians was carried out in Ottoman Empire. Also, the sadistic tortures against

Armenian population took place in both Sumgait-Baku massacres and the genocide. Moreover, there is an ideology and attitude of perpetrators in both cases played an important role. There were cases in Turkey where officials refused to follow the orders of the central government and to carry out execution of innocent people and many Turks hid their Armenian neighbors in their houses, thus saving their lives. The same way some

Azerbaijanis treated Armenians, as interviews with survivors testify.

However, the overwhelming majority of Azerbaijanis and Turks celebrated festively deaths of Armenians, and that was common in both cases.

Although, the pogroms in Sumgait and Baku resemble more the pogroms of the late nineteenth century rather than the genocide of 19154, yet the methodology and ultimate purpose were figuring as major aspects of projecting the genocide of 1915 to massacres in 1988-90. The political environment was also an important element of the turmoil, for if Armenians didn’t side with Russians in the early twentieth century and if Armenians didn’t claim reunification with Karabakh in the late nineteenth century, all of the bloodshed would have not, perhaps, take place at all. [25]

The Karabakh crisis reveal much about the transgenerational psychological impact of genocide. In the best of circumstances, the trauma persists for decades, even generations and manifests itself in a very unexpected way. The trauma is clearly compounded when the perpetrators are left unpunished, when there are no acts of contrition or indemnification, and when external society or governments find it inexpedient to join in remembrance. Historical memory forcefully shapes contemporary outlook. The past is present[26].

-----------------------

[1] Alfred Schultz, “The Phenomenology of the Social World” (Evanston,

Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1967)

[2] Donald E. Miller ,“The Role of Historical Memory in Interpreting events in the Republic of Armenia,”in Richard G. Hovanessian (ed.) “Remembrance and Denial” (Detroit, Michigan, Wayne State University Press, 1998) p.187

[3] Frank Chalk “Redefining Genocide,” ed. George J. Andreopulos Genocide:

Conceptual and Historical Dimensions (Philadelphia, University of

Pennsylvania Press, 1994) pp. 48-50.

[4] Richard G Hovanessian “Etiology and Sequelae of the Armenian Genocide” ed. George J. Andreopulos Genocide: Conceptual and Historical Dimensions

(Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994) pp.111-112

[5] Donald Miller “The role of Historical Memory in Interpreting Events in the republic of Armenia,” ed. Richard G. Hovanessian Remembrance and Denial