Azerbaijan is marking the anniversary of 20 january - the day in 1990 when 26,000 Soviet troops entered Baku and massacred large numbers of civilians who were calling for the restoration of Azerbaijan independence. The day is often referred to as Black January.
The events of 20 January marked the final break of Soviet power with the people of Azerbaijan, and after that the Communist Party was completely discredited. Azerbaijani statehood was restored by a decision of the Azerbaijani parliament on 18 October 1991 - although independence only followed the collapse of the USSR at the end of that year.
Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, accompanied by first vice president Mehraban Aliyeva and other state officials, paid homage to those fallen in the events at a ceremony in the Alley of Martyrs in Baku.
source: commonspace.eu
photo: Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, accompanied by first vice president Mehraban Aliyeva and other state officials, paid homage to those fallen in the events of 20 January 1990 at a ceremony in the Alley of Martyrs in Baku. (picture courtesy of the press service of the president of Azerbaijan
