Toll of genocide must be honored

March 31 is known as the Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis, referring to the tragic events that happened from March 31 to April 1, 1918. In one of the first comprehensive scholarly studies of the tragedy, Prof Firuz Kazemzadeh wrote: "This three-day massacre by Armenians is recorded in history as the "March Events" and thousands of Muslims [Azeris], old people, women and children lost their lives."

Another distinguished professor was even more blunt noting almost half of the Muslim population of Baku was compelled to flee the city and between 8,000 and 12,000 Muslims were killed in Baku alone, many of them old men, women, and children.

The March Events, as this episode became known to history, touched off a series of massacres all over Azerbaijan with he Armenians in the Caucasus attacking defenseless Tartar [Azeris] villages.

After the proclamation of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic (ADR) on May 28, 1918, the "March Events" were investigated by ADR Government. In 1919-1920, the ADR observed March 31 as a national day of mourning. This was the first-ever genuine attempt to give political and legal assessment of the policy of genocide against Azeris, the first victims of the crimes against humanity.

The position of Azerbaijani-Americans is that close to a million Azeris have been massacred in the 20th century as the result of Armenian genocidal campaign. This makes for a total of 2,5 million Azeris, Turks, Kurds, Jews, Georgians, Circassians, Tats, Talysh, Lezgins and other people who fell victim to the Armenian policies of ethnic cleansing for the creation of their state, which was supposed to stretch from the Black sea to the Caspian to the Mediterranean.

We are asking to join the Azerbaijani-American and other communities, and the US Azeris Network (USAN), in commemorating the Azerbaijani Genocide by making a statement for the record in your committees, legislature or newspaper column or Congressional Record. Thank you.

Feray Duman

Hoffman Estates