Azerbaijan marks Genocide Day

Today, on March 31, Azerbaijani marks its Genocide Day in memory of the victims of the events 93 years ago, when armed forces of the Armenian nationalist party "Dashnaktsutyun", supported by the Bolshevik leadership of the Baku Soviet, headed by Stepan Shaumyan, committed mass murders and massacre of the peaceful Azerbaijani population.

The retaliatory actions of March-April 1918 were conducted under the slogan of "struggle against counterrevolution." Within a few days in Baku and surrounding villages thousands were killed; mosques, schools and historical monuments were ruined. After the operations in the Baku region, massacres of civilians continued in Shemakha, Guba and other regions of Azerbaijan. In total, more than 30,000 civilians were killed.

By Decree of President Geidar Aliev of March 26, 1998, "On Genocide of Azerbaijanis" March 31 was declared to be the Genocide Day of Azerbaijanis.

On the eve of the 93rd anniversary of the March events, the Turkish Embassy in Baku organized a presentation of a documentary on the tragedy of the Azerbaijani people.

The film was made by the Turkish television channel "TRT" with the use of archival films and photographs. It pictures the salvation role of the Turkish army under the command of Nuri Pasha, which liberated Baku in September 1918 from the troops of the Baku SR-Menshevik government of the "Tsentrokaspian Dictatorship" (by that time the Bolshevik government of the People's Commissars was forced to resign, and its commissars were arrested) and Dashnak military units.