Azernews.Az

The United States Azeri Network (USAN) has launched awareness campaign on January 20 tragedy. The campaign contains the facts from the report of “Human Right Watch” international organization on “Bloody January in Azerbaijan”, AzerTag state news agency reported.

The campaign informs about the statistics on the peaceful Baku residents killed by the Soviet Army.

The USAN statement says that on January 20, 1990, sovereign Azerbaijan was invaded by 26,000 Soviet troops. A courageous resistance by Azerbaijanis to the Soviet invasion continued into February. Eventually, 147 Azerbaijanis were killed, and a lot of people went missing.

The Black January events were the continuation of the massacres committed in Kazakhstan in 1986 and in Georgia in 1989. After the tragedy happened in Azerbaijan the same has been committed in Lithuania in 1991.

“The terrible event remembered by this commemoration was an atrocity, but it also gave birth to a hope that led eventually to independence and freedom the following year. Twenty five years later, "Black January" has not lost its importance.

"Millions of Azerbaijanis and friends of Azerbaijan visit Martyrs' Alley in the Azeri capital, Baku on January 20th to pay tribute to the memory of their compatriots who laid their lives for the country's independence. They lay flowers on the graves of the victims and the nation's commitment to independence, democracy and freedom,” the statement adds.

Through USAN’s letter campaign, members of Azerbaijani-American community inform the American public and call their legislators to issue proclamations and resolutions to officially commemorate the victims of January 20 by the government of the United States.

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