Minister Vartan Oskanian presented the opening remarks at a conference entitled ‘Tolerance and Xenophobia in the South Caucasus region’. The one-day conference took place on February 25, 2008, and was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Armenian pogroms that took place in February 1988 in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait.

In his speech, the Minister suggested that the topic ought to be considered on three levels: national, regional and global.

In the regional context, the Minister explained, “The violence against Armenians in Sumgait changed the nature of the Karabakh conflict. The conflict became militarized, and the consequences were lost territories and homeless refugees. These are expressions and manifestations of the conflict, and not its causes. 

“Those pogroms of Armenians in the city of Sumgait in Azerbaijan, far away from Nagorno Karabakh, in February 1988 have the dubious honor of being the first -- the first time that ethnic cleansing was utilized in what was still Soviet space – even before this method was utilized in the Balkans.

“And just as in the Balkans, it is clear that when a government fails in its responsibility to protect, and instead condones and sponsors the killing of its citizens, that government loses the right to administer that population. There can be no return to the status quo, because the security and well-being of that population is at stake, so in Nagorno Karabakh, there can be no return to the status quo.”

The Minister explained that Armenians have been the victims of extreme intolerance in many places at many times. Sporadic killings of innocent Armenians on the streets of Moscow today are signs of xenophobia. At its most extreme, the Genocide by the Ottomans nearly 100 years ago was also the expression of intolerance. That is why, the Armenian people must be the advocates, the torchbearers of tolerance worldwide, he said.

Finally, the Minister extolled the Armenian people to also practice tolerance, especially in today’s tense domestic atmosphere, to begin to work to heal the wounds that this polarized election campaign inflicted, and to work together politically.

The conference was organized by Hayk Demoyan, who heads the Genocide Museum, and was cosponsored by the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Armenian Academy of Sciences. Nearly a dozen scholars from Armenia and the region spoke on various topics.

Those events initiated armed campaign against Armenians residing in Azerbaijan and directed the Nagorno Karabakh issue toward military solution.

Minister Oskanian also touched upon the presidential elections held on February 19, 2008, emphasizing the importance of tolerance and unity in ensuring the country’s stability and development.

Audio version of the conference: |