BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. Today Azerbaijan
commemorates the 35th anniversary of the January 20, 1990 tragedy.
This day went down in history of Azerbaijan’s fight for
independence and territorial integrity.
On January 20, 1990, the Soviet army forces entered Baku to
suppress the masses protesting the USSR-supported Armenian
aggression based on territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
The entry of Soviet troops resulted in an unprecedented tragedy
for Azerbaijan. Valiant sons and daughters of Azerbaijan put the
country’s freedom, honor and dignity above everything else,
sacrificed their lives and became martyrs.
During the tragedy, 147 people were killed, 744 were severely
injured and 841 were illegally arrested. As a result of the Soviet
army’s operations, 200 apartments, houses, private and state
property were destroyed.
While delivering speech at a meeting held on January 21, 1990 at
the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan in Moscow in connection with
the tragedy, Heydar Aliyev sharply criticized the perpetrators of
this incident. Heydar Aliyev stressed that the incident did not
correspond to the law, democracy, humanism and the principles of
rule of law in Azerbaijan.
Despite that many years have passed since those bloody days,
Azerbaijanis remember the dreadful night that took many innocent
lives and mark the anniversary of the January 20 tragedy every
year.
January 20 is immortalized in the memory of Azerbaijani nation
as a Day of the Nationwide Sorrow.