Thirty-six years have passed since the tragedy that occurred in Azerbaijan on January 20, 1990, APA reports.
On the night of January 19–20, 1990, by order of Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, military units of the USSR Ministry of Defense, the State Security Committee, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs were deployed to Baku and several regions of Azerbaijan. Peaceful civilians were fired upon with heavy military equipment and various types of weapons, resulting in mass killings.
The occupation of Baku by large contingents of Soviet special forces and internal troops was accompanied by extreme brutality and unprecedented violence. Before the declaration of a state of emergency was announced to the population, military personnel brutally killed 82 people and fatally wounded 20 others. After the state of emergency was declared, 21 more people were killed in Baku over the following days. In districts and cities where a state of emergency was not declared, eight more people were killed—on January 25 in Neftchala and on January 26 in Lankaran.
As a result of the unlawful deployment of troops, 131 people were killed and 744 were injured in Baku and surrounding areas. Among the victims were women, children, and the elderly, as well as ambulance workers and police officers.
The unlawful deployment of troops was also accompanied by mass arrests of civilians. During the operations, 841 people were unlawfully detained in Baku and other cities and districts of the republic, 112 of whom were sent to prisons in various cities of the USSR.
Military personnel opened fire on 200 houses and 80 vehicles, including ambulances. Fires caused by incendiary ammunition destroyed large amounts of state and private property.
The victims of January 1990 are symbolically referred to as the “January 20 martyrs.” In total, Azerbaijan has 150 “January 20 martyrs.”
Immediately after the tragedy—on January 21, 1990—National Leader Heydar Aliyev, together with his family members, came to Azerbaijan’s permanent mission in Moscow, demonstrating solidarity with his people. He strongly protested the bloody operation carried out by the USSR leadership and exposed those who led it.
The January tragedy, while a nationwide mourning, also demonstrated the resilience and steadfastness of the Azerbaijani people. Despite the brutality of the Soviet army and the imposition of a state of emergency in Baku, on January 22 the Azerbaijani people held a mourning procession in the capital’s Azadliq Square in connection with the burial of the January 20 martyrs. Nearly two million people participated in the burial ceremony at Martyrs’ Alley. At the people’s demand, an extraordinary session of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR was convened, and a decision was adopted to lift the state of emergency in Baku. However, most senior officials of the republic, fearing public anger, did not attend the session.
On March 29, 1994, at the initiative of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, the January 20 tragedy was given legal and political assessment for the first time at the level of the supreme legislative body—the Milli Majlis. Since then, January 20 has been commemorated annually in Azerbaijan as a National Day of Mourning. Every year on January 20, officials and ordinary citizens visit the victims of the January 20 tragedy at Martyrs’ Alley.
In accordance with a special action plan, to ensure the safety of visitors, traffic is restricted on streets and avenues leading to Martyrs’ Alley from 08:00 on January 20 until the end of the ceremony. It is recommended to minimize the use of private vehicles in this direction and to give preference to public transport.
On January 20 at 12:00 Baku time, the memory of the martyrs will be honored across the country with a one-minute silence, during which ships, cars, and trains will sound their horns. On that day, as a sign of mourning, Azerbaijan’s state flags will be lowered nationwide.
To draw the attention of the international community to the Bloody January tragedy, relevant events are also being held by Azerbaijan’s embassies, diplomatic missions abroad, and Azerbaijani communities.