Baku, February 28, 2025 – The Europe Today: Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly dismissed allegations made by the Armenian Foreign Ministry regarding the Sumgayit events, calling them unfounded and a deliberate distortion of historical facts.
Aykhan Hajizada, the spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, stated in response that Armenia’s accusations serve as an attempt to obscure its own history of violence, mass expulsions, and the use of military force on ethnic grounds to pursue illegal territorial claims against Azerbaijan since the late 1980s.
“We remind the Armenian Foreign Ministry that the ethnic turmoil in Sumgayit was part of a planned provocation orchestrated by the leadership of the USSR and Armenia, along with Armenian nationalist ideologists and extremist organizations,” Hajizada asserted.
He further emphasized that an investigation by the USSR Prosecutor General’s Office at the time led to the identification of perpetrators, as well as 32 victims, including six Azerbaijanis, which he said demonstrated that the riots were not instigated by Azerbaijanis.
Hajizada pointed out that an ethnic Armenian, Eduard Grigoryan, was identified as the instigator of the violence. Grigoryan, who personally led the attacks, was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison but was later transferred to Armenia, where he was released. He also highlighted that a total of 92 individuals were convicted for their roles in the Sumgayit events, with one person receiving a capital sentence.
“In contrast, during the late 1980s, when approximately 300,000 Azerbaijanis were forcibly expelled from Armenia, resulting in over 200 deaths, no legal action was taken against those responsible,” Hajizada noted.
The spokesperson further criticized Armenia for failing to hold accountable the perpetrators of numerous war crimes against Azerbaijani civilians, including the 1992 Khojaly massacre.
He reiterated that Azerbaijan has successfully restored its territorial integrity by ending Armenia’s decades-long occupation of internationally recognized Azerbaijani lands. Hajizada dismissed claims of “ethnic cleansing” in 2023 as baseless and urged Armenia to acknowledge and address crimes committed against Azerbaijanis and their cultural heritage instead.
Azerbaijan’s government maintains that such accusations from Armenia hinder prospects for regional peace and stability, calling for a factual and balanced approach to historical narratives.
