Soviet government troops arrest several Azeris in a clash with Popular Front protesters in Baku in January 1990.

Black January (Azeri: Qara Yanvar) or Bloody January, also known as the January Massacre was a bloody crackdown of Azeri protest demonstrations by Soviet army in Baku, Azerbaijan on January 20, 1990. In Azerbaijan Bloody January is known as the bloody birth of Azerbaijan Republic. Image File history File links 40634281_azerbaijan_238. ... Image File history File links 40634281_azerbaijan_238. ... Soviet redirects here. ... Popular Fronts comprise broad coalitions of political and other groups, often made up of oppositioners or left wingers, and often united against particularly stringent circumstances. ... Satellite view of Baku The Baku harbour on the south of Absheron peninsula The Maiden Tower in old town Baku Baku (Azerbaijani: Bakı), sometimes known as Baky or Baki, is the capital of Azerbaijan. ... This article is about the year. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Azerbaijanis. ... Soviet redirects here. ... Satellite view of Baku The Baku harbour on the south of Absheron peninsula The Maiden Tower in old town Baku Baku (Azerbaijani: Bakı), sometimes known as Baky or Baki, is the capital of Azerbaijan. ... January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ...

Early Problems

The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh and mass prescription of Azeri population from Armenia resulted in peaceful nationalist demonstrations in Baku in the last days of December 1989. The demonstrators protested against ethnic violences, demanded an ouster of Azerbaijani communist officials and called for independence from the Soviet Union. Local government lost control over the situation, as on January 13, 1990 pogroms broke out against Armenians in the capital, with a death toll of 48^[1] or 66^[2] before Soviet troops intervened and Moscow decided to preserve Soviet power in Baku by force, and evacuate the remaining Armenians. The world chess champion at the time, Garry Kasparov who was an Armenian-Jew from Baku who was forced to evacuate.^[3] Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijani: Dağlıq Qarabağ or Yuxarı Qarabağ, literally mountainous black garden or upper black garden; Russian: Нагорный Карабах, translit. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Azerbaijanis. ... Satellite view of Baku The Baku harbour on the south of Absheron peninsula The Maiden Tower in old town Baku Baku (Azerbaijani: Bakı), sometimes known as Baky or Baki, is the capital of Azerbaijan. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Moscow (disambiguation). ... Soviet redirects here. ... Satellite view of Baku The Baku harbour on the south of Absheron peninsula The Maiden Tower in old town Baku Baku (Azerbaijani: Bakı), sometimes known as Baky or Baki, is the capital of Azerbaijan. ... Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (IPA: ; Russian: Га́рри Ки́мович Каспа́ров) (born April 13, 1963) is a chess grandmaster and former World Chess Champion. ...

Military Force

The 12 000 strong MVD internal troops and numerous Soviet army and fleet units of Baku garrison and Caspian Flotilla did not intervene to stop riots, claiming that they had no orders from Moscow authorities. One week later, late at night on January 19, 1990, 26.000 Soviet troops stormed Baku. The Soviet troops attacked the protesters firing in the crowds. The shooting continued for three days. They acted pursuant to a state of emergency (which continued on for more then 4 months) declared by the USSR Supreme Soviet Presidium, signed by President Gorbachev and disclosed to the Azerbaijani public only after many citizens lay wounded or dead in the streets, hospitals and morgues of Baku. Caspian Flotilla (Каспийская флотилия in Russian, or Kaspiyskaya flotiliya), the oldest Russian military flotilla, which would later become part of the Soviet Navy. ... Satellite view of Baku The Baku harbour on the south of Absheron peninsula The Maiden Tower in old town Baku Baku (Azerbaijani: Bakı), sometimes known as Baky or Baki, is the capital of Azerbaijan. ... A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government, may work to alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors, or may order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. ... Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Russian: ; Pronunciation: mih-kha-ILL ser-GHE-ye-vich gor-bah-CHOFF) (born March 2, 1931), was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ...

Victims

More than 130 people died from wounds received that night and during subsequent violent confrontations and incidents that lasted in February; the majority of these were civilians killed by Soviet soldiers. More than 700 civilians were wounded. Hundreds of people were detained, only a handful of whom were put on trial for alleged criminal offenses. Civil liberties were severely curtailed.

According to official figures 133 people died, and 611 received injuries of varying severity, 841 were arrested and 5 - missing. The soldiers used bullets with an offset centre of gravity designed to swerve after entering the body.

The behavior of Soviet armed forces in Baku must be judged in the context of their actual mission.

State of Emergency

According to Human Rights Watch, "while the Kremlin's ostensible reason for the military action was to safeguard the Armenian population, most evidence simply does not support this contention. For example, documents of the military procurator's office in Baku examined by Human Rights Watch/Helsinki indicate that the military action was being planned even before the January 13, 1990 pogroms".^[4] Human Rights Watch Banner Human Rights Watch is a U.S.-based international non-governmental organization that conducts research on human rights. ...

The Soviet army was trying to rescue the totalitarian regime, the rule of Communist Party and Soviet empire.

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 in a sign of mourning and mass protest. Satellite view of Baku The Baku harbour on the south of Absheron peninsula The Maiden Tower in old town Baku Baku (Azerbaijani: Bakı), sometimes known as Baky or Baki, is the capital of Azerbaijan. ... January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Then-USSR Defense Minister Dimitri Yazov stated that the use offeree in Baku was intended to prevent the de facto takeover of the Azerbaijani government by the noncommunist opposition, to prevent their victory in upcoming free elections (scheduled for March, 1990), to destroy them as a political force, and to ensure that the Communist government remained in power.

The extreme session of the Supreme Council of the Azerbaijani SSR held on January 22, 1990 at request of the people and initiative of the group of deputies tried to evaluate the January 20 events and adopted some documents condemning the behavior of Soviet army. January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Soviet redirects here. ...

Black January

Human Rights Watch report, entitled "Black January in Azerbaijan", states: "Indeed, the violence used by the Soviet Army on the night of January 19-20 was so out of proportion to the resistance offered by Azerbaijanis as to constitute an exercise in collective punishment. Since Soviet officials have stated publicly that the purpose of the intervention of Soviet troops was to prevent the ouster of the Communist-dominated government of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the nationalist-minded, noncommunist opposition, the punishment inflicted on Baku by Soviet soldiers may have been intended as a warning to nationalists, not only in Azerbaijan, but in the other Republics of the Soviet Union." Human Rights Watch Banner Human Rights Watch is a U.S.-based international non-governmental organization that conducts research on human rights. ...

"The subsequent events in the Baltic Republics - where, in a remarkable parallel to the events in Baku, alleged civil disorder was cited as justification for violent intervention by Soviet troops -further confirms that the Soviet Government has demonstrated that it will deal harshly with nationalist movements," continues the Human Rights Watch report.

The Wall Street Journal editorial of January 4, 1995, stated: "It was Mr. Gorbachev's recall, who in January 1990 chose to defend his use of violence against the independence-seeking Azerbaijan on the grounds that the people of this then-Soviet republic were heavily armed gangs of hooligans and drug-traffickers who were destabilizing the country and quite possibly receiving support from foreign governments."

Gross violation of human rights and massacre in Azerbaijan caused little reaction of Western powers. Mikhail Gorbachev's regime was adamantly supported against "heavily armed gangs of hooligans and drug-traffickers." The tragedy mosly went on in silence.

The brutal use of force in Azerbaijan created an anti-force. It buried chances of preserving the collapsing empire and resurrected national movement for independence.

Accomplished Independence

In 1991 Azerbaijan became independent. 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Gorbachev later apologized to Azerbaijan by stating: Declaring a state of emergency in Baku was the biggest mistake in my political life.

In 1994, the National Assembly of Azerbaijan (Milly Mejlis) gave the events a full political and legal evaluation for the first time. With the Decrees of the President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev of December 16, 1999 all the victims of the crackdown were awarded the title “Shahid (Martyr) of January 20”. 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal. // Events January Bill Clinton January 1 : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect. ... The National Assembly is the name of either a legislature, or the lower house of a bicameral legislature in some countries. ... The country of Azerbaijan is a presidential republic, with the President of Azerbaijan as the head of state, and the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan as head of government. ... Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev (HeydÉ™r Əlirza oÄŸlu Əliyev in Azerbaijani) (sometimes transliterated as Heidar Aliev or Geidar Aliev from the Russian Гейдар Алиев) (May 10, 1923? - December 12, 2003) served as president of Azerbaijan for the New Azerbaijan Party from June 1993 to October 2003, when his son Ilham Aliyev... December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Do you mean. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

1. ^ Human Rights Watch. “Playing the "Communal Card": Communal Violence and Human Rights”
2. ^ Alexei Zverev. Contested borders in the Caucasus
3. ^ Kasparov Chess Foundation - Bio
4. ^ Human Rights Watch. “Playing the "Communal Card": Communal Violence and Human Rights”

See also

• History of Azerbaijan
• History of the Soviet Union
• April 9 Tragedy

This article covers the history of the territory of modern republic of Azerbaijan (Republic of Azerbaijan) until present time and of territory of modern Iranian Azerbaijan until the Perso-Russian wars in the beginning of the 19th century. ... The History of the Soviet Union begins with the Russian Revolution of 1917 in an effort to implement socialism, eventually leading to communism by Vladimir Lenin on a large scale, until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 when its central government was dissolved. ... The April 9 Tragedy (or the Tbilisi Massacre of 9 April 1989) refers to the bloody events in Tbilisi, Georgia on April 9, 1989, when peaceful anti-Soviet and pro-independence demonstrations were brutally dispersed by the Soviet army using entrenching spades and toxic gas. ...

External links

• http://www.january20.net
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1477933.stm

	History of Azerbaijan
Click to show Ancient History Caucasian Albania Shirvanshah Islamic Azerbaijan Independent Khanates Russian Rule Azerbaijan Democratic Republic Soviet Azerbaijan Black January Modern Azerbaijan