POLITICS
Iowa City’s Press Citizen daily publishes article about Black January
Washington, January 18 (AZERTAC). The Press Citizen daily newspaper of Iowa City has published an article written by Agshin Tagiyev titled “Black January”.
On the eve of the 23rd anniversary of Black January, Azerbaijani-American Council and Azerbaijan Society of America call for a proper recognition of sacrifices made by Azerbaijani people in their struggle for freedom and independence.
The article reads: “Twenty-two years ago over the night from 19th to 20th January military units of former Soviet Union invaded the capital Baku city and some regions of Azerbaijan. The invasion was conducted with particular cruelty and unprecedented atrocities.
Black January - as it came to be called — was the most violent crackdown on dissent during the Gorbachev’s glasnost era.”
The newspaper cites the Human Rights Watch report narrating that on the night of Jan. 19-20, 1990, heavily armed Soviet troops assaulted the city of Baku as an enemy position intended for military destruction; fired on clearly marked ambulances; used armored vehicles and weapons appropriate for sophisticated warfare to crush civilians. Additionally, the Soviet troops used expanding bullets prohibited by the 1899 Hague Convention, killed women, children, and elderly among many others that night.”
The people of Azerbaijan deeply moan and commemorate memories of 20 January victims who fell for the country’s sovereignty