Ambassador of France to Azerbaijan Anne Boillon visited the Alley of Martyrs on the eve of January 20 - the Day of National Mourning. The French diplomat shared on social media:
"On this day of mourning, the 35th anniversary of the Black January tragedy, we, together with our European colleagues, honor with sorrow the memory of the victims of the January events of 1990," Ambassador Anne Boillon wrote.
The Ambassador of France to Azerbaijan, Anne Boillon, shared a post on the social network X in connection with the 35th anniversary of the tragedy of January 20, 1990.
„On this day of mourning – the 35th anniversary of the Black January tragedy – we, together with our European colleagues, honor the memory of the victims of the January events of 1990“, the ambassador's post said.
We remind You that today marks the 35th anniversary of the tragedy of January 20, 1990.
Source: https://www.trend.az/azerbaijan/politics/3995366.html
Editor's note: On January 20, 1990, by order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR - Dmitry Timofeevich Yazov, (who will go down in history primarily as a rebel - the organizer of the attempted coup and the introduction of martial law in the USSR and as the initiator of the so-called ГКЧП – (Государственный комитет по чрезвычайному положению - State Committee of the Situation of Emergency, in the period August 19-22, 1991), the city of Baku was attacked by air, sea and land by units of the Soviet Army. According to the testimonies of living participants in the events, Soviet army soldiers shot "at everything that moved" - at citizens on the street, at ambulances, and even at local police cars.
This cannibalistic act was due to the fact that at that time elections were coming up, which were certain to be won by the opposition in Azerbaijan. At that time, many citizens took to the streets of Baku and blocked the entrances to the barracks in the city to prevent the army from leaving, which had instructions to take control of the capital of the then Azerbaijan SSR. People used non-violent methods, similar to those of Mahatma Gandhi, but Moscow ordered an armed intervention. It is believed that Gorbachev himself was not against it, although he did not give a formal order for the attack.
The opposition movement in Azerbaijan was catalyzed by the aggressive actions of Armenia, which made territorial claims against Azerbaijan for the then Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (Region), which was part of the Azerbaijan SSR. The Armenian separatist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh was largely patronized by the state leadership of the USSR.
The Soviet army's invasion of Baku led to an unprecedented tragedy in Azerbaijan, including a large number of deaths. The actions of the Soviet army led to the creation of a new cemetery in the center of Baku - the "Alley of Martyrs", where practically all those who died during the "Black January" on January 20, 1990, are buried.