Azerbaijani consulate in Tabriz marks 35th anniversary of January 20 tragedy

An event was held at the Consulate General of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tabriz to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy, also known as the National Day of Mourning. The event featured the screening of a documentary film dedicated to the tragic events, a photo exhibition, and a charity dinner.

The gathering was attended by Murtaza Mahammadzadeh, Deputy Governor of East Azerbaijan of Iran for Political Affairs, Turkish Consul General in Tabriz Çetin Taner, Azerbaijani citizens residing in Tabriz, their families, and Azerbaijani students from Azad Islamic University.

At the beginning of the event, participants honored the memory of the martyrs of January 20 with a minute of silence.

In his speech, Consul General Aliyannaghi Huseynov stated, "As National Leader Heydar Aliyev once characterized, January 20 is both a tragic, sad, and heroic, brave page in the history of the Azerbaijani people. The Great Leader said with great foresight that the further we move away from those days, the more deeply we will understand what an important place those days occupied in the history of the Azerbaijani people. However, one thing is true, the tragedy of January 20, 1990 was a turning point in the life of the Azerbaijani people."

Huseynov described how, on January 20, 1990, the Azerbaijani people faced a difficult test, when Soviet military forces were deployed against unarmed protesters who had risen in opposition to the USSR leadership's biased, pro-Armenian policies. He emphasized the tragedy’s devastating toll, with 147 people killed, 744 injured, and 841 illegally arrested. "During those difficult days, the military opened fire on those who accidentally went out into the streets, residential buildings, ambulances, and buses, killed the wounded, and abused the corpses. As a result of military aggression, hundreds of houses and dozens of ambulances were destroyed, and a large amount of state and private property was plundered. However, they could not break the will of the Azerbaijani people with their bloody actions. Bloody January led to the further rise of the national liberation movement and, as a result, Azerbaijan regained its independence," Huseynov stated.

The Consul General also noted the pivotal role of National Leader Heydar Aliyev in addressing the tragedy. "Immediately after the tragedy - on January 21, 1990, the National Leader Heydar Aliyev, together with his family members, came to the permanent representation of Azerbaijan in Moscow and shared the grief of our people, condemned the bloody crime committed by the Soviet leadership in Baku. As a result of the statement of our Great Leader regarding the January 20 events, the world learned about this terrible, particularly ruthless state terror committed by the USSR leadership against the Azerbaijani people," Huseynov said.

He further recalled the political and legal assessment of the tragedy, which was made possible by Heydar Aliyev’s efforts. "On the initiative of Heydar Aliyev, who returned to his homeland from Moscow in July 1990, on November 21 of that year, the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic adopted a document that gave the first political and legal assessment of the January 20 tragedy. This decision, which embodied the general opinion of the Azerbaijani people, went down in history as a manifestation of the determination of the Great Leader."

Huseynov also reflected on the significance of the Alley of Martyrs, where the heroes of January 20 are buried. He praised it as a sacred place of oath for the Azerbaijani people, symbolizing their struggle for freedom and sovereignty. "The difficult, difficult, but honorable path that began in 1990 reached its most important peak in September 2020 with the leadership of the Victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev and the 44-day Victory Chronicle of our brave Army. The young people who once came to the Alley of Martyrs and visited the martyrs wrote a heroic epic themselves, ensuring the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, our independence and sovereign rights," he added.

Huseynov concluded by saying, "The full restoration of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan is also proof that the blood of the martyrs of January 20, and in general, of all our martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of our lands from occupation, has not been left on the ground. Therefore, our people celebrate the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy with a special sense of pride. Their memory will always live in our hearts!"