Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The Lithuanian Parliament has held a commemorative ceremony in connection with the tragic events of January 20, 1990.

President of Lithuanian Supreme Council, MEP Vytautas Landsbergis said January 20 events in Baku and January 13 events in Lithuania have much in common.

Lithuanians have witnessed the tragic events in January, 1991 in Vilnius, when the Kremlin attempted to suppress Lithuanians striving for independence.

"We were nations of the same fate, we both have encountered the aggression of the empires," said MEP Landsbergis speaking on Lithuania and Azerbaijan.

However, he admitted that two decades ago the tragedy of Azerbaijan did not receive proper attention. "We have seen of it a little bit, there were photographs, but we were busy with the matters of our own independence. We remember it not often enough since they followed each other: massacre in Baku, massacre in Tbilisi, massacre in Lithuania. Massacre of three nations, we should cherish the sense of solidarity," he said.

Late at night on January 20, 1990, some 26,000 Soviet special forces called "Alfa" entered Baku without declaring a state of emergency and committed atrocities against the innocent Azerbaijani people. The invasion was launched at midnight and was committed with brutality; even children, women and the elderly were not spared.

In total, some 133 people were killed, 611 wounded, 841 illegally arrested and five went missing as a result of the intrusion of troops into Baku and other regions of the republic.

January 20, 1990 entered into the modern history of Azerbaijan as one of the most tragic days, and at the same time as a heroic page.