Looking back at Black January 20 years on

A Most Painful Day 

[By Elin Suleymanov, Consul General of Azerbaijan to Los Angeles, California] 

 

January 20 was a very tragic and painful day.  Despite that, it served as the basis for the construction of post-Soviet Azerbaijani identity and even the recovery of Azerbaijani identity.  On that day, most Azerbaijanis lived through a personal transformation, changing from being Soviet citizens, however unhappy, into confident citizens of their own country.  I was one of those Azerbaijanis.  On that date, as a student in Russia, I witnessed how the Soviet security police attacked those who had gathered at Azerbaijan’s mission in Moscow and how Heydar Aliyev joined the protesters.  By speaking out against what Moscow was doing in Baku and denouncing the Communist Party for backing these steps, Heydar Aliyev, himself a veteran Soviet official, established himself as the new leader of the independent Azerbaijan that was emerging. 

January 20 is symbolic for many reasons.  We, Azerbaijanis, on that date, 20 years ago, felt and demonstrated an unprecedented level of unity and resolve in the face of the threat to our nation’s existence.  The tragedy itself represented the birth pangs of the emergence of Azerbaijan as an independent nation committed to independence.  And the events of that day showed that this nation embraced far more people than many had thought: Indeed, one photograph that no Azerbaijani will ever forget from that time was a picture of a funeral service for the victims of the massacre with Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders leading a joint prayer at the cemetery. 

Twenty years ago, on that January night, we ceased being Soviet citizens and became Azerbaijanis.  And now, almost a generation later, our country’s independence and prosperity are the best tributes we can offer to the memory of those who lost their lives in the Soviet attack so long ago.

A Day of Meaning 

[By Tabib Huseynov, Political Analyst]

What makes Black January so important now is that it serves as a reminder of the capacity of Azerbaijanis to stand up for their country and overcome tragedies, however great.  As a result, the attacks of January 20 had exactly the opposite effect Moscow had hoped they would.  They did not stop the drive toward independence; they accelerated it.

In the wake of the attacks, Moscow declared a curfew in Baku.  But despite that order, more than a million Azerbaijanis, almost the entire adult population of Baku, took part in the funeral of the victims on 22 January.  Their willingness to stand up for their people and to ignore Communist orders made this event one of the largest demonstrations of the power of the people in the course of the final years of the USSR.  Moreover, in the days that followed, thousands of Azerbaijanis demonstratively burned their party cards and took part in a 40 day period of mourning for the victims.  Never before had the Azerbaijani nation been as united as in those days.

Today, Azerbaijanis all over the world mark January 20th as a day of national mourning and dignity.  Every year on this anniversary, hundreds of thousands visit the Alley of Martyrs, where the victims of the tragedy repose.  The visitors slowly pass their graves and lay red carnations, a symbol of the tragedy, on the grave markers of the fallen.  They come with sadness, but they leave with pride. 

Black January, therefore, remains an important part of Azerbaijani national consciousness, a day not just of sorrow and pain but of the nation’s commitment to the ideals of freedom and democracy.