On February 28, 2017, an event commemorating the Armenian victims of the Sumgait, Baku and Kirovabad massacres was held at Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel in Tbilisi.

The commemorative event was organized by Armenian NGOs based in Tbilisi. In attendance were Tbilisi’s Armenian intelligentsia, community officials and civil society members, as well as Georgian intellectuals and public figures. Participants included representatives of political parties in Georgia.

Diplomats from the RA Embassy in Georgia, the clergy and officials of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia paid tribute to the Armenian victims of the pogroms.

The event began with a prayer for the repose of the souls with the participation of the Primate of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, His Grace Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan and the clergy.

A minute of silence was observed in memory of the victims of the massacres of Armenians in Sumgait, Baku and Kirovabad. Liza Torosyan and Mikael Avagyan (hosts) were conducting the event in Armenian and Georgian. They read an appeal of the Armenian non-profit organizations based in Georgia addressed to the country authorities, requesting to prevent some acts that imperil peaceful coexistence of Georgia’s multinational population.

First Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Georgia, Artur Sargsyan; the Chairman of the NGO Armenian Community of Georgia, Samvel Mkrtchyan; the Coordinator of the Georgian Armenians’ Union, Mari Arakelova; Founder of The Peace Foundation, Giorgi Tumasyan; delivered speeches. The speakers in different languages touched upon the inhumane acts, presented the response of international media and political scientists to the massacres of Armenians.

The speakers condemned the slaughter and brutality in Sumgait, Baku in Kirovabad, in 1988-91, reflected on continuing policy of violence on the border of Artsakh, where, even today, Armenian soldiers are killed by Azery bullet. The speakers called on Azerbaijanis living Georgia to resist the intrigues of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Georgia and “emissaries” sent from Azerbaijan to Georgia, to follow Georgian tradition, and continue to live together in peace and friendship in the blessed Land of Georgia.

The evening’s cultural program included classical music performances by Henrikh Eroyan, Natia Chiashvili, Tata Korkadze and Tata Gvazava, the students from violin class of Ernest Arakelov (String Music Department dean) from the V. Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatory, accompanied on piano by Irina Platonova. The commemorative event concluded with a performance by the Makar Yekmalyan Choir of the Cathedral of Saint George, led by the choirmaster Svetlana Tatoeva, and accompanied by organ-player Karen Mirzoyan.