Azerbaijani People Commemorates January 20 Martyrs

Since the early hours of the day, Azerbaijani citizens have been gathering at the Alley of Martyrs to pay tribute to the victims of the January 20 tragedy, The Caspian Post reports, citing local media.

People are laying flowers on the graves of the martyrs and paying their respects.

On the night of January 19-20, 1990, under the direct orders of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, troops of the Ministry of Defense, the State Security Committee, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR entered Baku and several districts of Azerbaijan. Mass killings were carried out by firing from heavy equipment and various types of weapons. Until the state of emergency was announced to the population, military personnel mercilessly killed 82 people and fatally wounded 20. After the declaration of a state of emergency, 21 people were killed in Baku within a few days. Eight more people were killed in districts and cities where the state of emergency was not declared-on January 25 in Neftchala and on January 26 in Lankaran.

Thus, 147 people were killed and 744 were injured in Baku and its surrounding regions due to the illegal actions of the troops.

Among the dead were women, children, and the elderly, as well as emergency workers and militiamen.

Every year, January 20 is commemorated in Azerbaijan as the National Day of Mourning.