Azerbaijan - Black January

Floor Speech

Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, every four years, on January 20th, all Americans celebrate the inauguration of a new President. It is a time of hope and a quadrennial reminder of the enduring nature of our democracy and the peaceful transition of power from one administration to the next.

January is also a time for celebration and commemoration for a friend and ally, the Republic of Azerbaijan. This January marks the 24th anniversary of the events that marked the beginning of the end of Soviet rule over Azerbaijan, an occupation that existed for much of the 20th Century.

This time period is referred to in Azerbaijan as ``Black January,'' when violent conflict erupted in Azerbaijan's capital city of Baku on January 19-20, 1990 Soviet troops killed over 100 nationalist demonstrators and wounded another 700 Azeri citizens. When Soviet troops fired on innocent civilians, including old people and children, demanding freedom, it became a defining moment in recent Azeri history.

Azerbaijan eventually declared its independence from the U.S.S.R. on October 18, 1991. In the report, ``Black January in Azerbaijan,'' Human Rights Watch put the events into a larger perspective: ``the violence used by the Soviet Army on the night of January 19-20 was ..... an exercise in collective punishment ..... intended as a warning to nationalists, not only in Azerbaijan, but in the other Republics of the Soviet Union.''

I ask the House of Representatives to join me in commemorating--with our friend and ally, Azerbaijan--the events of Black January in 1990, events which began in tragedy but culminated in the birth of an independent nation and ally of the United States. May God bless this nation as it continues to move forward.

Source