14 հունվար, 2021 07:33
Baku Pogroms in the Context of the Karabakh Conflict
Episodes of mass violence, such as the Armenian pogroms in Baku in January 1990 and subsequent introduction of Soviet forces resulting in additional loss of life, are often viewed as events in themselves. From the Armenian perspective, the Baku pogroms were just another manifestation of anti-Armenian hatred in Azerbaijan, from Azerbaijani – it is often described as a conspiracy to quash local nationalist aspirations. Putting these events in the context of the developing logic of the Karabakh conflict and growing crisis throughout the Soviet Union helps explain the events’ timing and some of the motives involved. Thus, the initial appeals from Nagorno Karabakh Autonomy for its reassignment from Azerbaijan to Armenia were immediately followed by a violent reaction against Armenians in Karabakh, Sumgait and elsewhere. Following the violence of 1988, 1989 was a mostly peaceful year with relatively few conflict-related deaths reported.
