Baku, January 19, AZERTAC

Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Energy has hosted a commemorative event dedicated to the 34th anniversary of the 20 January tragedy – the National Mourning Day, which occupies an honorable place in the history of the struggle for the sovereignty and freedom of the country.

First, the memory of martyrs, who died for the independence of Azerbaijan, was commemorated with a minute of silence.

Addressing the meeting, Deputy Minister of Energy Samir Valiyev noted that the tragedy of bloody January are always remembered as a page of heroism in the memory and history of the Azerbaijani people. “In January 1990, the Soviet troops entered Baku and committed the atrocities and terrible crimes against civilians who fight for the freedom of our country.”

He emphasized that the 20 January events formed the national identity of Azerbaijan and were engraved in the country’s history as the peak of the national liberation movement of the people for independence in its heroic history.

The deputy minister noted that only after the return of national leader Heydar Aliyev to political power in Azerbaijan in 1993, the tragedy of 20 January received political-legal assessment at state level. “Successfully continuing the path of great leader Heydar Aliyev, President Ilham Aliyev pays special attention to perpetuate the memory of our martyrs, strengthen the social protection of their families. Thanks to the initiatives of the head of state, an effective social protection system has been formed for persons with disabilities and families of martyrs in connection with the events of January 20,” he mentioned.

“The triumphant outcome of the military operations carried out under the leadership of Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev for the liberation of the Azerbaijan’s territories in 2020 made the souls of the martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for freedom, including the martyrs of January 20, happy, and we avenged the martyrs,” the deputy minister added.

The commemorative event then featured a documentary on the January 20 events.