YEREVAN, MARCH 1, NOYAN TAPAN - ARMENIANS TODAY. In connection with the 22nd anniversary of the Sumgait massacres, numerous demonstrations in remembrance of the innocent victims took place in Armenia and abroad. The demonstrators demanded that both the perpetrators and organizers of those massacres be brought to justice. Haylur Program of the Public Televion Company of Armenia reported that marches, demonstrations and rallies were held in many capital cities across the world. Armenian youth staged a protest outside the Azerbaijani embassy in Washington, demanding that the perpetrators and organizers of genocide in Sumgait, subsequently in Baku, Kirovabad, Shahumian, Maragh and other areas populated by Armenians be punished, and anti-Armenian hysteria as well as speeches against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh in international organizations be stopped. On February 27 - Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Sumgait Massacres, dozens of Armenian Americans gathered outside the Azerbaijaini mission in Washington to demand justice and recognition of the historic facts. They carried flags and maps of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh and chanted the slogans: "Azerbaijan is responsible for the Sumgait crime", "We will never forget Sumgait", "Put an end to Armenophobia", "Freedom to Nagorno Karabakh", etc. They demanded that the Azerbaijani government say the truth about Sumgait and Khojalu. "We will continue staging protests until our demands are met," the protesters said. In the words of Yerevan-based scientist Harutyun Marukhian who was sent on a mission to Washignton, he conducted a study on national recollection. "The Sumgait events evoked our people's memories of the 1915 Genocide, and this consciosness became the driving force of our national struggle 22 years ago," he said. The priests of two Armenian churches in Washington offered prayers in remembrance of the Armenian martyrs of the Sumgait massacres. Members of the Armenian community of Poland also organized a protest action. Rafael Amirian - one of representatives of the Armenian community in Warsaw - read a letter of protest outside the Azerbaijani embassy, while the Armenian protesters demanded that the Azerbaijani authorities should take responsibility for the Sumgait massacres, and the international community should condemn these massacres and consider them as a continuation of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. After reading the letter of protest, R. Amirian accompanied by director of Musa Ler enthongraphic ensemble Hakob Baghdasarian made an attempt to hand the letter to a representative of the Azerbaijani embassy, but the embassy employee declined to take it, explaining that he does know Polish, so the letter was put in the embassy's mailbox. The community members also lit candles at the khachkar in the yard of the Armenian embassy. Armenian Ambassador to Poland Ashot Galoyan stated that the protest outside the Azerbaijani emabassy bears evidence of the fact that the Armenians around the world have not forgotten anything and they are ready to counter false propaganda conducted by Azerbaijan and all anti-Armenian provocations. Armenian youth organizations of Greece also organized protest actions. The protesters held the flags of Armenia and Artsakh in front of Azerbaijan's mission. They demanded condemnation of the Sumgait tragedy, justice and compensation. In Yerevan, Armenian youth gathered at the Monument to the Sumgait Victims in the Tsitsernakaberd Complex, condemning the Sumgait crime and demanding its condemnation by the international community. The Armenian youth sent letters condemning the Sumgait massacres to the Yerevan Offices of the UN, the OSCE, and the Council of Europe. It is said in these letters that during the acts of violence committed over 3 days in the city of Sumgait, in the vicinity of Baku, in February 1988, several dozen people were killed, 200 were injured, nevertheless, no legal and political assessment was given to those events. The Switzerland-Armenia Association issued a statement with condemnation of the Sumgait events, considering Azerbaijan's agression against Nagorno Karabakh and the destruction of khachkars in Jugha as an expression of its continuing propaganda of an atmosphere of hatred for Armenia and the Armenian people.

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