MASSACRE OF ARMENIANS IN SHUSHI IN 1920 IS NOTHING BUT GENOCIDE


MARCH 23.The massacre of Armenians in Shushi in 1920 is nothing but a genocide, Chairman of the parliamentary Commission for Foreign Relations of Karabakh, Vahram Atanesyan, said at a press-conference today. He said the massacre was perpetrated by Azerbaijan with the support of the Turkish expeditionary corps. Atanesyan stressed that Karabakh has never been a part of Azerbaijan and was de facto independent at that moment, its status being recognized by Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. However, availing themselves of the international community's delaying the acknowledgement of the independent Karabakh Republic (the League of Nations declared it a disputed territory, planning to consider its status at a conference in Paris, which never took place), the Azeri-Turkish bandits stifled Karabakh's government and massacred its population. Atanesyan said Mar 23 1920 was the climax of the anti-Armenian campaign of 1918-1920 - hundreds of Shushi-Armenians were killed and deported. Atanesyan said the Karabakh side has ample evidence of the massacres of Armenians perpetrated in Baku, Shushi and other towns of the region in 1918-1920. He said this evidence must be made known to the wide public. Atanesyan said during the Soviet times Azerbaijan continued the "white genocide" of Armenian in Shushi consistently forcing out the 40,000 Armenians living in Shushi throughout that period. As a result there was no single Armenian left in that town in 1988. Atanesyan said the Karabakh parliament must adopt a status of repressed for the Armenians who suffered from the anti-Armenian campaigns by the Azeri authorities in 1988-1992. He said necessary documents are being gathered. Chairman of the parliamentary Financial and Budgetary Commission of Karabakh Mayor Danielyan, representing Shushi in parliament, said his commission was going to raise the issue for recognizing Mar 23 as the Day of the Massacre of Armenians in Shushi.