Azerbaijan’s Path To Independence: “Bloody January”

35 years have passed since the bloody reprisal, committed by the former Soviet army against the Azerbaijani people on January 20, 1990.

January events became a turning point in the struggle of Azerbaijan for independence after more than 70 years of stay in the USSR.

Entering in Baku on January 20, 1990 parts of the Soviet Army to suppress large -scale speeches of the masses, protesting against the aggressive actions of Armenia and its territorial claims against Azerbaijan, against the protection of the leadership of the former USSR, led to the tragedy.

The Bloody January events that accelerated the collapse of the Soviet Union are based on the problem of Nagorno -Karabakh.

In the late 80s of the last century, Armenians began active separatist activities, trying to separate the Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan.

In December 1989, the Supreme Council of the Armenian Soviet Republic decided to unite the Nagorno -Karabakh with Armenia. In protest against this decision in Baku, thousands of rallies were held.

people flocked to the Square of Freedom in the center of the Azerbaijani capital in protest against the leadership of the USSR and the growing territorial claims of Armenia.

People blocked the entrances to the city and to the military units of Baku.

The ongoing rallies caused the concern of the leadership of the USSR and it was decided to introduce troops into Baku.

January 19, 1990, intelligence services blew up the power unit of Azerbaijani television, depriving the inhabitants of Baku TV show.

In the evening of the same day, the Soviet group of 26 thousand people on armored vehicles from 5 directions entered Baku.

The military opened fire on unarmed people. Tanks and armored vehicles ran into pedestrians and cars. Ambulance and passenger buses were fired.

On that night, 130 civilians died in Baku.

The Soviet Army also made bloodshed in areas such as Neftal and Lankyaran. In total, 147 residents of Azerbaijan became victims of January bloodshed.

Although the leadership of the USSR declared a state of emergency in Baku, the city was completely controlled by the Soviet Army, people again went out into the streets in the funeral of fallen heroes (Shekhidov).

Shekhidov buried on the Alley of the Shahids, where there were already the graves of victims of massacres arranged by Armenians in Baku, March 31, 1918.

Azerbaijanis carried the bodies of those who died on their shoulders. About one million people gathered on the streets and squares of Baku that day.

The bloody events of January 1990 completely undermined the confidence of the Azerbaijanis to the Soviet regime, the process that ended with the country’s independence accelerated.

Despite the fact that thirty -five years have passed since bloody events, the Azerbaijani people honor the memory of the heroes of that terrible night. This tragedy is immortalized in the memory of the Azerbaijani people as a day of popular grief.

Every year on January 20, from the early morning, tens of thousands of people come to the alley of the Schehids in Baku to honor the memory of the inhabitants who gave their lives for freedom and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.