This year marked the 30^th anniversary of the Sumgait Pogroms. From February 26 to 29, 1988, Armenians were massacred in the city of Sumgait of Soviet Azerbaijan. The pogroms shocked the international community with their brutality and were aimed at intimidating the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and forcing them to give up the struggle for national liberation. The pogroms of the Armenians in Sumgait were organized meticulously. Nearly 18,000 Armenians were living with people of different nationalities, but those days of February 1988 became crucial for the Armenians. It was the same genocide perpetrated by the same executioners. History repeated itself.

On the occasion of the 30^th anniversary of the Sumgait Pogroms, Requiem Services were performed following the Sunday Masses in Bucharest and other Armenian-populated cities of the Armenian Diocese of Romania. At the Holy Archangels Cathedral of Bucharest, Primate of the Diocese, His Grace, Bishop Tatev Hakobyan officiated a Holy Mass served by pastor of the St. Mary Church of Constanta, Priest Oshakan Khachatryan. Among those attending the Holy Mass were Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to Romania Sergey Minasyan, Consul Ashot Grigoryan, Consul Ashot Grigoryan, representatives of the Union of Armenians of Romania, members of the diocesan and parochial councils and believers.

In his sermon, His Holiness reminded the attending believers once again about the cruel and inhumane events that took place in Sumgait and particularly stated the following: “What happened to the Armenians in Sumgait in 1988 and after 1988 is genocide. It was a crime that was aimed at annihilating the ethnic Armenian citizens of Azerbaijan. The Armenians were massacred simply because they were Armenian and Christian. However, the criminals failed to break the spirit of the Armenians and go against their willpower and aspiration for freedom. Like several times in the history of the Armenian people, this time, the Armenians also united as one, rose from the ashes and were reborn, and they slapped the rival in the face with the liberation of Artsakh. Artsakh has been, is and must remain Armenian land, and no nation can have ambitions to seize the historic territories of Armenia. Today we respect the memory of the innocent victims of the Sumgait Pogroms and pray along with the millions of Armenians commemorating the Sumgait Pogroms in different corners of the globe.”

The Holy Mass was followed by a Requiem Service for the souls of all the martyrs to rest in peace, after which wreaths were laid in front of the cross-stone commemorating the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide erected in the churchyard.

We pray for the souls of all the martyrs to rest in peace and ask the Lord for His mercy.

May the memory of the righteous be blessed. Amen.

Press Divan of the Armenian Diocese of Romania