Event dedicated to the 29 anniversary of the events of January 20, 1990 held at State Migration Service

At first, the martyrs were commemorated with a minute of silence.

Making an opening speech, the Service chief Vusal Huseynov noted that the 20 January events entered as a heroic page into the history of struggle of Azerbaijan for sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. He stated that the first political and legal assessment of the events was given by national leader Heydar Aliyev. On January 21 – Heydar Aliyev`s visit to the Permanent Representation of Azerbaijan in Moscow and his political assessment of the January 20 tragedy by bravely declaring that crime as an act against law, democracy and humanism, as well as a political mistake committed by the Central Government and the leaders of the country of that time was the great support by the great leader to the Azerbaijani people, who were in those days in confusion from non-healing wounds.

The memory of those who lost their lives for the freedom and sovereignty of our country is always revered by President Ilham Aliyev, who continues the political course of great leader Heydar Aliyev today. The head of State adopted significant decisions to strengthen social protection, as well as to increase the state care of family members of those who were killed for the sake of freedom, sovereignty of Azerbaijan during the tragic events of the January 1990. According to the relevant Decree signed on January 19, 2006, the “Pension of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan for the family of martyr of the January 20” was allocated for the family of each person who died in the tragedy of the January 1990.   

Then, First deputy chief of the Service, II rank state migration service counselor Vali Naghiyev noted that the path leading to the January 1990 tragedy began in 1987, when the massive deportation of Azerbaijanis from their historical lands in Armenia, as well as the attempts to unite Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia strengthened. The demonstrations for the inviolability of our lands finally became a spectacular national movement. Instead of preventing the increasing tensions the Soviet leadership committed a terrible crime against Azerbaijani people.

On the night from 19 to 20 January 1990, by the command of Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the troops of USSR Ministry of Defense, the State Security Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs were deployed to Baku and several districts of Azerbaijan, the civilians were massacred by the fire from heavy machinery and various weapons. The occupation of Baku by the special forces of the Soviet army and the large contingent of internal troops was accompanied by special cruelty and unprecedented brutality. The deployment of the Soviet Union military units to Baku, attacking peaceful civilians, including children, women and elderly people and even the use of prohibited weapons and ammunition is one of the bloody pages of the history of Azerbaijan. Thus, 147 people were killed and 744 wounded in Baku and surrounding districts as a result of illegal deployment of troops.

At the event it was mentioned that the martyrs who sacrificed their lives would not be forgotten and the criminals would receive relevant punishment.

The recent growth of the economic and military power of Azerbaijan, the strong unity of the people and the President will soon ensure fair settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as will provide an international political and legal assessment of the 20 January tragedy, which is the direct result of this problem.

May our martyr`s soul rest in peace!