Today we are commemorating the 33rd anniversary of the 20 January tragedy. On 20 January 1990, though the Azerbaijani people suffered military, moral and political aggression, they displayed their ability to maintain the traditions of historical heroism and resist the cruellest attacks for the sake of the freedom and independence.
We talked about it with our Ethics manager Samir Javadov.
– You probably remember that days. How old were you when the 20 January tragedy happened?
I was 26, and as a young man I was very concerned and shocked by what happened that night. Еhe situation in the city on the eve of the incident was very tense. People were extremely dissatisfied with what was happening in Karabakh and Armenia. Hundreds of Azerbaijanis were forcibly deported from their historical villages in Armenia by the tacit consent of Moscow. Azerbaijanis were expelled from Karabakh and neighboring regions. People demanded independence from the Soviet Union.
– How do you remember that night?
Have you ever experienced a nightmare? If yes, then you must know the feeling when someone attacked you and you want to scream, but you can’t. You want to scream and call your parents or someone around you for help, but you can’t make a sound, or you scream, but no one can hear you.
This is a very similar feeling that we experienced at that night of January 20. We, civilians, and residents of Baku – one of the most peaceful and multinational cities, were machine-gunned and smashed by tanks. And we couldn’t get communicate with the international community to talk about what’s going on here. Because the first thing the army of the Soviet Union did was to blow up the power supply of our State Television and Radio. So, we were cut off from all communications with the outside world. This was a very common practice of the Soviet special forces.
Our family lived in a house near “Beshmertebe”, on the Husi-Hajiyev street. This area was very close to the place where most bloody actions took place. Not far from us were the Salyan barracks, where a small number of soldiers tried to defend and prevent the enemy from entering the city centre. Through our window it was clearly visible how the tracer bullets were flying and the screams of people were heard. One of the bullets hit the neighbor’s apartment on the fifth floor. It smashed through a window, broke the glass of a bookshelf, and got stuck in one of the books. A family with two children lived there. Imagine what would happen if the bullet did not get stuck in the book, but hit one of the children.
– How did this situation affect you?
It was a vile and unacceptable act of the Soviet Union and its General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev towards its own people, since we were still citizens of the Soviet Union at that moment. As a result of the January tragedy, 147 civilians were killed and 744 more were wounded in Baku and nearby regions. Among those killed were women, children and the elderly, medical employees, and policemen. It is unfair that no one took responsibility for this bloody crime and no one was punished for it.
I think next generations should know and remember this tragedy of Azerbaijani people.
I will never forget this. Never ever…
