The New York Times Explores the Massacres of Armenians in Baku

Thirty years ago, around this time, massacres and atrocities against Armenians in Baku found their way into international media. The renowned The New York Times editorial discussed the massacres of Armenians that took place on January 19, 1990, reports Armenpress.

The article initially addresses nationalism and its manifestations in different regions of the area. “This week, a massacre has been committed in Baku primarily against Christian Armenians by Azerbaijanis, showing the vile manifestations of nationalism,” states the article. It mentions that the roots of this hatred began two years prior with the massacre carried out by armed Azerbaijanis in Sumgait, where over 30 people were killed, mostly Armenians.

“After the 1988 earthquake, Azerbaijan blocked the roads to Armenia, attempting to exert control over Nagorno-Karabakh,” the publication notes, emphasizing that Armenians were seeking protection in Moscow.

Thirty years ago, between January 13-19, 1990, in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, tens of thousands of Armenians were victims of brutal massacres and forcibly displaced. After six days of atrocities against Armenians, the city, which had a population of about 250,000 Armenians, was emptied of its Armenian inhabitants. The massacres that took place from January 13 to 19, 1990, were organized by the Azerbaijani Popular Front (APF), and the authorities sponsored them.

The wave of anti-Armenian hysteria in Azerbaijan had begun as early as late December 1988 and early January 1989. On January 13, 1990, following a mass rally, the mob, divided into groups and directed to specific addresses, invaded Armenian homes, engaging in beatings and violence, throwing people out of windows, killing with iron rods and knives, assaulting women, and burning many alive. The massacres continued for six days.

Under the pretext of restoring order, only on January 19, when Soviet authority in Baku was endangered, Mikhail Gorbachev signed a decree imposing a state of emergency in Baku. During the armed resistance, more than ten assailants were killed, and many others were arrested. The massacres against Armenians have been condemned in resolutions adopted by the European Parliament in 1988, 1990, and 1991, and in 2002, the chairman of the U.S. Commission on Refugees, Bill Frelick, acknowledged the facts and their repercussions.