Victims of Azerbaijan events of January 20, 1990 commemorated in Chisinau
An event to remember the victims of the tragic events of January 20, 1990 was held on January 21, organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Congress of Azerbaijanis in Moldova. The participants observed a moment’s silence in memory of over 140 citizens of Azerbaijan who lost their lives that day, IPN reports.
Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Moldova Gudsi Osmanov said that 30 years ago on the night of January 20, at the instruction of the administration of the Soviet Union, detachments of the Soviet Army were deployed in Baku. “The administration of the Soviet Union committed an inhuman act of revenge against the peaceful people of Azerbaijan,” stated the ambassador.
He noted that only peaceful people suffered then even if the political actions against the USSR were invoked as a reason for the attack. “No politician was affected,” said Gudsi Osmanov, adding that the Azerbaijanis that night died for the independence and freedom of the current Azeri state.
Gheibat Medjidov, president of the Congress of Azerbaijanis in Moldova, said the events of January 20 led to a huge tragedy and the day of January 20, 1990 will go down in history as a day of heroic struggle for the independence of Azerbaijan, including the territorial one. The troops that entered Baku and other regions of Azerbaijan by order of the former leader of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev on the night of January 20, 1990 killed over 140 innocent people and injured over 700. There were destroyed homes and vehicles, including ambulances.
“Even if over 30 years passed since then, the Azeri people memorized forever that terrible night and expresses their contempt for those to blame for this tragedy,” stated Gheibat Medjidov, noting the people of Azerbaijan want those actions to be assessed correctly and those to blame to be punished.
The Bloody January tragedy was a violent crackdown on the civilian population of Baku. More than 1 million people went to the central market of Baku to bid farewell to the victims of those events.
