It has been 24 years to the bloody events of 20 January. On the day of nationwide mourning President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev paid tribute to the to 20 January martyrs.
20 January 1990 went down in the history of modern Azerbaijan as one of the most tragic and, at the same time, heroic dates for our people. Twenty-four years ago, on the night of 19 to 20 January, Soviet army units launched a military operation against broad popular masses who were outraged by the aggressive actions of Armenia and the collusion of the USSR leaders, and as a sign of categorical protest took to the streets of Baku. On that horrific night, the courageous sons and daughters of Azerbaijan for whom the freedom, honor and dignity of their native country and people were above anything else, sacrificed their lives to become martyrs.
Although 24 years have passed since the Soviet army machine perpetrated this bloody massacre in Azerbaijan, our people have not forgotten the pain of those horrendous days and are expressing their contempt for the instigators of this barbarism. Thousands of people visit the Alley of Martyrs on 20 January every year to pay tribute to the sons and daughters of Azerbaijan who sacrificed their lives for the freedom and sovereignty of their country.
The tragedy of 20 January perpetrated by the Soviet military machine in Azerbaijan was an act of unseen aggression and state genocide against its own citizens, a flagrant breach of the Constitutions of the former USSR and the Azerbaijan SSR. By sending troops to crush the civilian population on that night, the USSR government flouted the UN Charter, international law and a number of clauses of the International Treaty on Civil and Political Rights of which the USSR had been a member. Despite this, instead of standing by their people, the incompetent and slave-like leaders of Azerbaijan failed to stand by their people and continued to hold on to Soviet leadership.
In contrast to them, the brilliant son of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev, who lived in Moscow at the time, put his own life at risk by going to Azerbaijan’s permanent representative office, made a harshly-worded statement condemning the perpetrators of the Bloody January events and informed the world of the atrocities unleashed on our people. By doing so, our great leader demonstrated his courage, bravery and dedication to his people again.
However, this massacre could not break the will of the Azerbaijani people or put out their love of freedom. Our people managed to fulfill their dream of freedom and independence, albeit at such a high cost.
After nationwide leader Heydar Aliyev returned to power in Azerbaijan, a political and legal assessment of the 20 January events was given and the names of those guilty of the crime were made public. Since then 20 January has been commemorated as a day of national mourning.
Every year on this date, the people of Azerbaijan pay tribute to the 20 January martyrs.
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On the morning of 20 January, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev visited the Alley of Martyrs to honor the cherished memory of the victims of the bloody January tragedy.
President Ilham Aliyev laid a wreath at the "Eternal Flame" memorial.
The Defense Ministry’s military band played the national anthem of Azerbaijan.
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The memories of martyrs were also honored by state and government officials, heads of religious communities of the republic, ambassadors of foreign countries to Azerbaijan, representatives of international organizations.
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The ceremony at the Alley of Martyrs was attended by Prime Minister Artur Rasizadeh, Parliament Speaker Ogtay Asadov and Head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev.
