Black January victims commemorated at Azerbaijani embassy

Read on the website Vestnik Kavkaza

An event in memory of the Black January victims was held at the Azerbaijani Embassy in Moscow. The participants remembered the terrible events of January 20, 1990 that took place in Baku, and commemorated those killed.

A commemorative event dedicated to the Black January victims was held at the Azerbaijani Embassy in Moscow.

It began with a flower-laying ceremony in memory of the victims of that terrible tragedy.

34 years ago, a series of crimes against humanity known as Black January were committed in Baku.

First, organized terrorist groups, on orders from the USSR leadership, having a list with addresses, launched attacks on Armenians.

During these days, ordinary Baku Azerbaijanis sheltered their Armenian relatives, friends, and acquaintances from the militants. The police forces, warned in advance, were inactive, and rumors of “pogroms” were deliberately spread.

On the night of January 19-20, punitive squads dressed in army uniforms entered Baku on tanks. The militants who killed Armenians were replaced by others, killing Azerbaijanis, supposedly to stop the “pogroms.” The punitive forces fired randomly at passers-by and residential buildings, crushing people and cars under the tracks of tanks. That night, 147 Azerbaijanis died, including children, women, and elders.

The next morning, on command from above, the terrorist attack was stopped, and ordinary Soviet soldiers took the places of the killers on the tanks.