DAYS OF SORROW
Victims of Black January commemorated in Dubai
![Victims of Black January commemorated in Dubai](/files/2013/1/1200x630/14071445082066420592_1200x630.jpg)
Baku, January 18 (AZERTAC). The event to mark the 23th anniversary of the Black January tragedy was organized by the Azerbaijani Embassy in UAE at Grand Hyatt hotel in Dubai.
The event was attended by the Consul General of Azerbaijan to Dubai, representatives of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan in UAE, representatives of the Azerbaijan International Bank, members of the Azerbaijani Diaspora.
The ambassador Elkhan Gakhramanov briefed the participants on the bloody events of January, 20, 1990. He also drew the attention of the audience to the Armenian aggression towards Azerbaijan and occupation of the Azerbaijani territories.
The guests also watched a documentary about the tragedy.
Black January also known as Black Saturday or the January Massacre, was a violent crackdown in Baku on January 19-20, 1990, pursuant to a state of emergency during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Black January is seen as the rebirth of the Azerbaijan Republic. It was one of the occasions during the glasnost and perestroika era in which the USSR used force against dissidents.
Late at night on January 19, 1990, after demolition of the central television station and termination of phone and radio lines by Soviet special forces, 26,000 Soviet troops entered Baku, smashing through the barricades in order to crush the Popular Front. The troops attacked the protesters, firing into the crowds. The shooting continued for three days. They acted pursuant to a state of emergency, which continued for more than four months afterward, declared by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, signed by President Mikhail Gorbachev. The state of emergency was, however, disclosed to the Azerbaijani public only several hours after the beginning of the offensive, when many citizens already lay dead or wounded in the streets, hospitals and morgues of Baku. Almost the whole population of Baku turned out to bury the dead on the third day, January 22. For another 40 days, the country stayed away from work as a sign of mourning and mass protest. Estimates indicate that between 133 and 137 civilians died with unofficial number reaching 300. Up to 800 were injured and 5 went missing. An additional 26 people were killed in Neftchala and Lankaran regions of the country.
Gorbachev later apologised to Azerbaijan in 1995 by stating: "The declaration of a state emergency in Baku was the biggest mistake of my political career". In 1994, the National Assembly of Azerbaijan adopted a full political and legal evaluation of the Black January events. According to the decree of then President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev from December 16, 1999, all victims of the crackdown were awarded an honorary title of the "Martyr of January 20". January 20 is marked as Martyrs' Day (or literally, "the Day of the Nationwide Sorrow") in Azerbaijan.