Azernews.Az

A “20th January Martyrs Spring” built upon the Heydar Aliyev Foundation's initiative has been opened in Punjab Province of Pakistan.

At the ceremony organized at Ibn-e-Haldun Academy in the city of Gucharkhan, Mohammad Imran, Rector of the Academy Gazi, talked about the 20th January tragedy committed 25 years ago in Baku.

Secretary General of the Azerbaijan-Pakistan Media Forum Raja Javid Batty also delivered a speech at the ceremony.

He mentioned that the “20th January Martyrs Spring” was built at the initiative and with the support of Azerbaijan’s First Lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva.

Raja Javid Batty said, within the framework of the project, two artesian wells to be operated using alternate energy have been drilled in the region suffering from water shortage. He thanked Mehriban Aliyeva and the people of Azerbaijan for the works done.

Raja Rizvan Nazim, Head of the district municipality, Mahammad Azad, representative of the Education Ministry, and well-known politician Mushtag Ishtiag Choudru highlighted the tragedy of the 20th January.

The tragic events of January 19-20, 1990 mark a turning point in the history of Azerbaijan's independence from the Soviet Union.

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.

Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Pakistan Dashgin Shikarov informed the attendees of the event about the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and the Bloody January events.

At the end of the ceremony, small scenes reflecting the Black January were shown by students studying at the Academy.

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation started its activity in Pakistan after an earthquake in 2005 by launching an initiative to build a new modern school for girls in a destroyed region in Muzaffarabad. The Foundation has held a number of charitable activities in the country.

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