Azerbaijan remembers the date of the suppression of the opposition by the Soviet army with more than a hundred victims
Azerbaijan will have three consecutive non-working days – January 18, 19 and 20. January 20 is the Day of National Mourning in the country.
On January 20, 1990, the Soviet army suppressed the political opposition in Baku. More than a hundred civilians, mostly Azerbaijanis, were killed. According to a Human Rights Watch report, “while the Kremlin’s ostensible goal for the military action was to protect the Armenian population, most of the evidence simply does not support this. For example, documents from the military prosecutor’s office in Baku reviewed by Human Rights Watch/Helsinki indicate that military action was planned even before the pogroms of Armenians in Baku that began on January 13, 1990.”
On January 26, 1990, the Minister of Defense of the USSR Dmitry Yazov in an interview with Izvestia stated that the goal of the army in Baku was to smash the structures of the seizure of power, which had branches "everywhere". The suppression of demonstrations in Baku turned Azerbaijanis against the USSR and the local leadership, which significantly contributed to the growing desire for independence.
The US Congress and the House of Commons of Great Britain issued a statement in connection with the 35th anniversary of the tragedy in Azerbaijan. US Congressmen Steve Cohen and Robert Aderholt called on fellow congressmen to honor the memory of its victims, who died in the name of Azerbaijan's independence.
Member of the House of Commons of Great Britain Bob Blackman, in turn, also called on his colleagues to honor the memory of the victims of those events.
"On January 20, 2025, Britain will mark the anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Baku in 1990 in response to a popular movement calling for the independence of Azerbaijan. I pay tribute to the victims who died during the invasion of Baku and urge all members to mark this day so that these events will always be remembered,” he said.
