The Armenian group is once again attempting to destabilize political stability in Georgia and provoke inter-ethnic conflicts through their actions. They aim to use the 36th anniversary of the events in Sumgayit as an opportunity.

It is important to note that on 27-28 February 1988, violent attacks against Armenians took place in Sumgait, which Armenian extremists and provocateurs organised. One of the organizers was Armenian Eduard Grigoryan, who was convicted by a Soviet court of organizing the killings. Grigoryan is responsible for the deaths of at least 10 of the 16 victims. The extremists intentionally killed their people, sacrificing those who did not have patrons and did not contribute to the Dashnak common fund. Their goal was to blame the Azerbaijani people and start shouting about a 'new genocide' to the whole world.

The Sumgayit incidents, in the form of 'pogroms', were premeditated by Armenian nationalists. This was done in parallel with the organization of numerous rallies in Khankendi and Yerevan, demanding the annexation of the Daghlig Garabagh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) from the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR. However, public opinion in the USSR did not comprehend why this was necessary or what did not suit the Hayyevs in the multi-ethnic Azerbaijan SSR. To justify the need for redrawing borders, the Armenian extremists required blood and sacrifices. It is important to avoid subjective evaluations and biased language.

On 20 February 1988, the Hay separatists organised an extraordinary session of the Council of People's Deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) in Khankendi. They adopted a decision to petition the Supreme Soviets of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR to transfer the NKAO from the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR. Subsequently, pogroms, killings, and expulsion of Azerbaijanis in the Armenian SSR began. However, the Azerbaijani authorities and Azerbaijanis themselves attempted to demonstrate that there was no danger to the ethnic Hayyas in the Azerbaijani SSR. They claimed that the Hayyas could live peacefully in Azerbaijani Karabakh and other towns and villages throughout the republic. Therefore, the pogroms in Sumgayit were unnecessary and even detrimental to their cause.

In contrast, the Khayi extremists aimed to demonstrate that the Khayis were under threat of 'genocide' within the Azerbaijani SSR. They claimed that Khayyas, particularly in Karabakh, could not coexist with Azerbaijanis and required 'miatsum' to protect themselves from 'genocide'.

It is interesting to note that the Armenian lobby in Moscow also fomented separatist conflicts in Georgia using much the same scheme. In the same way, provocateurs "proved" that Abkhazians and Ossetians allegedly could not live as part of Georgia and were allegedly threatened with "genocide". The handwriting was the same and clearly shows who was and remains an enemy of Georgia's territorial integrity.

The fact that all the Armenian nationalists' claims about the alleged "genocide in Sumgayit" are completely false is eloquently proven by the history of their provocative exhibition dedicated to the events in Sumgayit, organized in February 2019. At that time, the Armenian provocateurs did not hesitate to use for their propaganda photos of children who were killed during the real genocide of Azerbaijanis organized by the Armenian militants in the city of Khojaly on 25-26 February 1992.

In particular, photos of two young Azerbaijani children who were brutally killed by the Khayyis in Khojaly on the night of 25-26 February 1992 were used in the photo collages on the Sumgayit events. This photograph was taken from two angles by foreign photographers in Aghdam and is known worldwide as the photographic material depicting the Khojaly genocide. 

The immorality of the provocation is that the Armenians in Tbilisi are using in their forgeries photos of Azerbaijani children who were killed with particular cruelty by their tribesmen in Khojaly as "victims of Sumgait". They have tried, and are trying again, to deceive the Georgian public by passing off the photos of the small inhabitants of Khojaly, innocently killed by Armenian militants, as allegedly their "killed Armenian children".

Such forgeries are no accident. Armenian provocateurs in Georgia are trying to stir up inter-ethnic discord in order, firstly, to arouse "sympathy" for themselves and, secondly, to slander the Azerbaijani people. For this purpose, they use the thesis of the alleged: "killed children of Armenian".

But the fact is that there were no such children in Sumgayit. Therefore, Armenian provocateurs pass off photos of victims of atrocities committed by Armenian fighters in Khojaly as "unfortunate victims of Sumgayit" to "prove" their fabrications.

Then, in 2019, 5 years ago, the commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the events in Sumgayit, committed by the Khayyans themselves, was organized not only by the Armenian Embassy in Georgia but also by the "Hayartun" Cultural, Educational and Youth Centre and the Hay (Armenian) Apostolic Church (AAC) in Tbilisi. In other words, the Armenian so-called "Church" not only blesses lies but also engages in false and hateful propaganda.

How can such lies and forgeries be compatible with "the most ancient Christianity"? However, given that the AAC diocese in Georgia not only lies about the affiliation of hundreds of Georgian churches on Georgian territory but also officially claims ownership of 442 of them, such behavior is not surprising.

Moreover, the provocateurs and falsifiers of history, through their propaganda campaign on the events in Sumgayit, are trying not only to damage the inter-ethnic peace in Georgia and Georgian-Azerbaijani relations but also to besmirch the good memory of the national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev. They are trying to unjustifiably link him to the events in Sumgait. The provocateurs are well aware that even before the events in Sumgayit, Heydar Aliyev was removed from all possible positions in the USSR by Gorbachev's decision. In the Azerbaijan SSR at that time he held no positions and had no influence, and before that, in October 1987, he resigned from the post of First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The provocateurs know that in 2023 the Georgian public, together with the Azerbaijani community in Georgia, will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev's birth with several concerts and events. And the stone sludge from this is still stuck between the long ears of the Armenian fifth column, and obviously, the Armenian embassy decided to react in such a hurry. But the Georgian public will certainly not accept this lie.

Meanwhile, it was Heydar Aliyev who, after becoming president of Azerbaijan after the country had already gained its independence, extended a helping hand to Georgia in the most difficult conditions of the Armenian aggression in Karabakh. He allowed it to cope with the energy and economic blockade under the conditions of the separatist wars in Abkhazia and Samachablo, unleashed by the same Armenian lobby.

At a time when, on the contrary, the Armenian leaders not only supported the separatists fighting against Georgia in every possible way, but also supplied them with their fighters, their attempt to blacken the bright memory of a great friend of Georgia and the Georgian people, and even using forgery to pass off the victims of the genocide in Khojaly as "victims of Sumgait", shows the cunning of these enemies of our country.

The fact that Armenian nationalists are not afraid of any provocation (as was the case in Sumgait) shows how much it threatens inter-ethnic peace in Georgia if such provocateurs and instigators are allowed to spread their lies about these events...

George Mazniashvili