Day of National Sorrow in Azerbaijan (20/01)

January 20 in Azerbaijan is the Day of National Sorrow in connection with the tragic events of 1990, when Soviet troops were sent to Baku to suppress protests by the political opposition.

Due to the escalation of the Karabakh conflict, a national movement grew in Azerbaijan, the situation in the country became tense, and the Popular Front of Azerbaijan (PFA) was created. On January 20, 1990, at 00:20, troops arriving from other regions of the USSR, numbering more than 20 thousand people, entered the city of Baku in order to maintain the power of the Communist Party in the country. The operation was codenamed «Strike».

The entry of troops and the declaration of a state of emergency were carried out by Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, signed by M. Gorbachev on the evening of January 19, 1990. The resolution was adopted on the basis of paragraph 14, article 119 of the Constitution of the USSR. There was no agreement of the Supreme Council of the Azerbaijan SSR to introduce a state of emergency in Baku. The contents of the resolution were communicated to the people of Azerbaijan only 7 hours after the introduction of troops into Baku.

The operation was carried out under the command of the USSR Minister of Defense Yazov, the forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB of the USSR, as well as regular units of the Soviet Army and Navy. As a result, as a sign of protest, several hundred cadets of various nationalities of the Baku Combined Arms Higher Military School rebelled, seizing part of the Salyan barracks with an ammunition depot in the central part of the city.

Result of the use of force — 131 dead, over 700 wounded. Among them are — peaceful citizens: youth, old people, women, children. There were also casualties among military personnel.

Having learned about the intention of the military authorities to remove the corpses of those killed on warships, 50 civilian ships, including oil tankers, blocked Baku Bay. They were systematically fired upon by warships. The city of two million resembled a front line.

On January 22, crowded processions of Baku residents were held at gunpoint installed by the military on the roofs of buildings in memory of the innocently shot city residents. The victims of the tragedy were buried as heroes of the struggle for independence in the Kirov Park, which was later renamed the Alley of Martyrs.

In 2000, by Decree of the President of the Republic G. Aliyev was created the honorary title «Shehid on January 20», which was awarded to all those killed and missing in that Black January. And January 20 itself was declared in Azerbaijan as the Day of National Mourning for the victims. This is an officially established day of mourning, which is non-working.

Today, commemorative events are being held in Nagorny Park in Baku, where the Alley of Martyrs with the graves of Azerbaijani citizens who died then is located, and mourning rallies and memorial events are taking place throughout the country. In connection with the anniversary of the tragedy of January 20, state flags are lowered at half-mast in all cities and regions, as well as villages and towns of Azerbaijan as a sign of mourning.

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