Today, Azerbaijan marks 22 years after Soviet troops' entrance to Baku

Today is a day of mourning in Azerbaijan: the country marks the 22nd anniversary of the entry to Baku of army units, which was accompanied by numerous victims among the civilian population. Azerbaijan declared January 20 to be a day off.

At night on January 19-20, 1990, on the orders of the Soviet leadership, army corps of 35,000 entered Baku. The aim of the action was the desire of the Soviet leadership to save the Communist regime in Azerbaijan and to suppress the national liberation movement. As a result of the operation of the Soviet troops in Baku, 137 civilians were killed, 744 persons were wounded, and more than 800 persons were arrested.

Let us note that on the eve of the 22nd anniversary, Azerbaijani Embassies and diplomatic missions abroad also organized appropriate activities to bring information about the January tragedy to the international community.

According to the plan of activities, in Azerbaijan, families of persons killed during the January events were provided with humanitarian aid; on January 19, all schools held a special lesson devoted to the tragedy of January 20, and representatives of major religious confessions held public worships in memory of the victims.

By tradition, each year on the morning of January 20, tens of thousands of people go to the Alley of Martyrs (Alley of fallen heroes) to honour the memory of the victims of those tragic days. At noon, road traffic in Baku stops, ships in the Baku Bay and locomotives on the railroad give whistles as a sign of mourning. The mosques of the country held ceremonies in memory of the victims.

Action in front of Russian Embassy

The Azerbaijani society believes that leaders of the former Soviet Union were the main culprits of the January tragedy. Some political forces and public organizations believe that the current Russian authorities should bring to justice the persons guilty of massacre of civilians.

On January 19, a group of activists of the "Karabakh Liberation Organization" (KLO) of about 50 persons attempted to hold a picket in front of the Russian Embassy in Baku. They were holding in their hands posters with the slogans reading: "Bring Gorbachev, Yazov, Bakatin, and Primakov to International Court of Justice!" and "Russia, be objective in Karabakh problem!"

However, the police blocked the way of the participants of the action and did not allow them to approach the Embassy. Besides, police officers did not allow the KLO's representatives to hand over the resolution of the picket to the Embassy.

Ombudsperson addresses world community

Every year on the eve of the anniversary of the tragedy, Elmira Suleimanova, Azerbaijani Ombudsperson, addresses the international community with a statement, in which she recalls that the reprisal raid ordered by the leadership of the former USSR was accompanied by massacres of civilians and violations of human rights and freedoms.

No one brought to justice

None of the government of the former USSR and the Azerbaijani SSR was brought to justice for a military operation that led to massive civilian casualties.

On February 14, 1992, the Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office initiated a criminal case under several articles of the then Criminal Code: under Article 94 (intentional homicide under aggravating circumstances), Article 149 (intentional destruction of property), Article 168 (abuse of power and authority), and Article 255 (use and abuse of power).

In 1994, it was decided to bring to justice Abdulrakhman Vezirov, ex-First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Azerbaijani SSR, and Ayaz Mutallibov, Chairman of the Council of Ministers. However, they escaped from the prosecution and were put on the wanted list (the both persons live in Russia). The criminal case against Elmira Kafarova, ex-Chair of the Supreme Council, and Viktor Polyanichko, Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, was closed due to their demises.