The TV-channel Rossiya produced a documentary, “USSR. Collapse”, which tells about the last years of the Soviet Union's existence. It is interesting for those who want to understand the logic behind the collapse of the superpower. Views of experts and participants of the events and processes, which caused the USSR's fall, are helpful for further analysis of the reasons for “the greatest geopolitical disaster of the XXth century,” as Vladimir Putin called the collapse. We would like to draw attention to the fourth episode of the documentary, which touches upon developments in Sumgait in 1988.
Unfortunately, Dmitry Kiselev speaks shallowly about development which became the impulse for the tragedy of two peoples, which still exists. A viewer could think that events in Sumgait were the trigger of the Karabakh conflict. The Karabakh episode of the documentary includes many understatements and deficiencies: a staged scene with young people in summer shirts (in February it is cold to wear such shirts in Sumgait) was presented as documentary. And it concerns processes which, according to some experts, were the beginning of the USSR's end – the growth of nationalist tendencies in the Soviet republics plus disappointment with the passivity of the center, which didn’t want to stop inter-ethnic contradictions.
Thus, the fourth episode of the documentary starts with comments of two experts on the ethnic policy of the USSR. “The time bomb planted by the Bolsheviks, when they decided to divide a multinational state according to ethnic-territorial principles,” the head of the Historic Perspective Fund Natalya Narochinskays said. The next expert was the ambassador of the USA to the USSR in 1987-1991, Jack Matlock: “I think Stalin made it to divide and rule. He marked borders for some peoples, who were separated by these borders.” Dmitry Kisilev, summing up views of two experts concludes: “The leaders of the Soviet state divided the country according to ethnic principles. Thus, a territory with a majority Armenian population found itself under the control of Azerbaijan – it is called the autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh.”
So the faulty impression that Nagorno-Karabakh was put under Azerbaijan’s control on purpose is formed. The historical truth is that Nagorno-Karabakh has never been a part of the Armenian Republic or the Armenian SSR. Even though Armenians have many times made efforts to bring Nagorno-Karabakh under the control of the Armenian SSR, on the 5th July 1921 it was decided the territory would remain under Azerbaijani control.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict had much deeper roots, which started in the policy of tsarist Russia in the South Caucasus. In 1828, as a result of signing the Turkemchay peace treaty between Russia and Persia, the process of active migration of Armenians from Turkey and Persia to the South Caucasus began. An important document, which gives detailed information on the ethnic composition of Karabkah, is the tax registry of Karabakh province by Yermolayev and Mogilevsky in 1823. The number of Azerbaijani families was 15,729, while Armenian families numbered 4,366.
After more than 100,000 Armenians migrated from Persia, the ethnic balance in Azerbaijan began to change. Most of them settled in the Yelizavetpolsk region, the current Nagorno-Karabakh. In Yerevan in 1828 only 20% of the population were Armenians.
Returning to the documentary “USSR. Collapse”, one aspect should be mentioned. Kisilev tells about events in Sumgait in February 1988: “Sumgait: cruel murders, arsons and robberies. On February 28th the beating of Armenians began in the Azerbaijani SSR. The reason was the address of the regional committee of the Nagorno-Karabakh AR on escaping from the AzSSR. The spark is information about the murder of two Azerbaijanis.” We would like to remind you that Sumgait is not the whole AzSSR. Moreover, Dmitry Kiselev didn’t speak to residents of the city and ask them why demonstrations had been peaceful for three days and only on the fourth day the situation exploded, why dozens of accommodated military subdivisions in Sumgait did nothing, as if they were allowing people to “gambol”.
The most important thing is that before the beatings of Armenians in Karabakh, real wide-scale beating of Azerbaijanis in Armenia had begun. Moreover, in Sumgait many people whom we sent from Armenia in 1985 and 1987, lived just before Karabakh's self-identification. These people were experienced in inter-ethnic conflicts. New groups of refugees came here.
The fact that the local authorities participated in the exclusion of Azerbaijanis from Armenia was pointed out by the UN High Commissioner for refugees in 2003. All residents of Sumgait said that in those days the city was like a time bomb. The tense social situation played its role as well. Kisilev didn’t mention that five murders were committed by Armenian Eduard Grigoryan that night. Furthermore, the journalists didn’t ask the opinions of those who sheltered Armenians in their homes. Probably it is not very interesting for him, or it doesn’t correlate with a political order.
